The End of Time
by The Book Worm Assassin
Summary: Aiden is a unwilling combatant in the war between the Gods and Giants. He does not want anything to do with the Gods, but is sucked into their conflict. Now, to try to return to some semblance of his old, normal life, he must embark on a quest to save two demigods he neither knows nor cares about. Will freeing them save the only person he really cares about? R&R
1. The Prologue

Percy didn't understand how this could have happened. The Gods said he was gone. Hermes said he wouldn't be able to form a conscience, let alone an entire body, for a very long time. But Percy had the worst luck in the world, and the point was glaringly apparent right now. It was pretty obvious the Universe was _not _on his side.

He struggled up to the top of the hill. Before him was the endless depth of Tartarus. Black sand covered everything, and small, bare trees dotted the bleak landscape. It was a desolate place, void of anything even remotely happy. You could feel the evil of the place permeate the air. The air clawed at his lungs. It tore at his skin.

Annabeth stumbled up the slope behind him, and he went to help her. Her ribs still hadn't healed even after… Two weeks? Time was hard to tell in this place. There were no days and nights, just varying degrees of pain. But Annabeth was slowing them down, and she knew it.

"Go," she said. "I'll hold him off."

"No, not a chance. I'm not leaving you." Percy replied, looking into her stormy, gray eyes. "Never again means never again."

"He'll catch us, you know," she said. They were too tired to run anymore. Their strength had gone long ago.

Percy's muscles lost their tension. His shoulders relaxed, and his legs slackened. He lost the will to care anymore. At this point, it was just a waste of energy. Percy found it strange that it was so easy to accept his fate. There was no interest in running, or hiding, or fighting. Nothing he could do would change a thing. It was the last stop, the end of the line. The Fates string ended here, on some random hill in Tartarus.

Percy nearly laughed at the sick joke. After all that he had gone though, there would be no valiant end for him. No heroic last stand.

"I know." He looked at the figure that had been chasing them for so long. He was strolling casually up the side of the mountain, his golden armor gleaming even though there was no sunshine. It looked very much like Apollo's, but instead of the warm and friendly feeling, this light was harsh and harmful, ready to burn whoever got too near.

Percy knew this was the end. They couldn't keep running, and there was no chance against a Titan King, Achilles curse or not. Kronos finally made it to the top of the hill, taking his time, though Percy knew he had plenty of it. The Titan stared at the two, anger coursing through his body.

"How?" Percy said, barely audible.

Kronos let out a harsh laugh. "Is that all you want to know? Is how?" His eyes leeched onto Percy, draining what was left of his will to live.

Percy didn't answer. Annabeth looked at him, her face showing nothing but hopelessness. "This is it," she whispered.

Kronos gave them a twisted smile "Well, I guess we have plenty of time." He chuckled at his comment. "After the Battle of Manhattan, I was banished into the void. A dark place, with only pain to keep me company. But my mother managed to piece my essence back together. One wretched piece at a time."

"But it is of little importance now. Here in front of me, are the two demigods responsible for my fall. Gaea truly favors me!"

"I feel really special," Percy commented under his breath.

Kronos' scowled deepened. "You will know the pain I felt, Heroes of Olympus," he mocked. "I will show you the destruction of your precious world you fought so hard to save. I will destroy your minds. You will beg for the mercy of death, but it will never come."

The Titan turned his back to them, scanning the bleak landscape. "Like I said before, why turn people to stone when you can freeze time itself?" Kronos laughed, like the screech of cold knives, as realization dawned on the two teenagers in front of him.

Percy reached for Annabeths' hand, but just before he could grab it, a familiar feeling came over him. It felt like he was wading through syrup, and his arms felt heavier than the sky. They were frozen in time.


	2. Chapter 1

I walked into the kitchen, taking a seat in the chair that seemed the most likely to still be standing after I sat down. I plopped some bread and the book my mother asked for onto the table. I flipped it open, ripping off some bread. I brushed the crumbs off the page and stared intently at the words. It was hard enough to listen to some of these stories. Reading them myself was altogether a torturous task. The letters just loved to swim and dance all over the page. At least, the ones that weren't completely faded yet.

"Aiden," my mother called, even though I was sitting right behind her.

"Yes?" I answered, annoyed.

She jumped at the sound of my voice. "Oh," she said, "I didn't hear you come in."

Seriously? I thought. I wasn't exactly in ninja stealth mode. Actually, come to think of it, I never was. I had a hard time sneaking up on apple trees. Ya, trees. A branch had taken a swipe at me on more than one occasion. Of, course, I didn't say anything.

"Did you grab the book?" She asked, dicing her carrots. I shuddered at the thought of them.

"Yes," I sighed.

"Which story are you reading?"

I looked down real quick, trying to decipher the code of moving letters. "Uh, Jason and the Fleece?"

"You're not sure?" She chuckled. "What's it about?"

I rolled my eyes. "You already know. You've read this thing how many times?"

"I want to hear it again," she insisted. "From you. Please?" She looked innocently at me.

I slumped in defeat. I was never going to win this fight. I had learned that long ago. "It's about this guy named Jason, obviously, who goes on a quest to retrieve a Golden Fleece, also, quite obviously."

"Smart Alec," my mother commented.

I tried to hide a smile. "Anyways, he goes to some kingdom, where the king agrees to give him the Fleece if he can complete 3 tasks. But he only agrees because he knows the tasks are impossible, and Jason will get himself killed. Then the kings daughter comes to him that night, promises to help him live, if he promises to love her." I rolled my eyes. "So romantic. Like that would ever happen."

My mother narrowed her eyes at me. "Keep going. Try it with less attitude though. It'll be more enjoyable for me."

I just shook my head in annoyance. "Anyway, she helps him, and he gets the fleece. On their way back to his kingdom he ditches Medea for another woman. Medea goes crazy, kills their two kids, and poisons Jason's' new wife. The End." I finished and closed the book with a thud. The Greeks really loved their crazy stories. I didn't understand how anyone could find that story enjoyable.

She did a little humph to herself. "You're getting a lot better at reading." She glanced back at me for a second and smiled. "I'm impressed."

I couldn't hide the sarcastic look on my face. "I doubt it. I just remember it from all the times you read me that story. I can barely make out the letters on the page. It's like they all grew wings and decided they could fly." I mumbled.

She raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? Why don't you try reading about the Minotaur next? I don't believe I have read _that_ one to you yet." She went back to dicing her carrots, more deliberately now.

"Why?" I asked, raising my own eyebrow in return.

"Because learning to read is good for you. It'll help you later in life. And stories always have a bit of truth to them, even the made-up ones. There's always something you can learn from reading." The same answer I always got.

"No offense mom, but there are just not that many books left to read anymore. If you haven't noticed, the world is kind of going down the drain. Like, apocalypse bad," I pointed out. "I don't think reading will be as important as say, trying to_survive_? How is a bunch of words on a page going to help us hide from the bandits?" And to be honest, I was tired of spending hour after frustrating hour trying to learn a skill that I couldn't see much use for.

She stopped dicing, putting a hand on her hip. "Because I said so." She glared at me.

Ugh, typical parent answer. "Is that really the best you got?" I snapped.

"Oh? And do you have any better ideas, Aiden? Please, enlighten me. What else would you like to do?" She said angrily. "I could teach you how to knit, or crochet. Would you consider those 'useful' skills?"

"No." I replied. I hated when she asked those 'questions'. Like there was a good answer to them.

"Well, until you have any better ideas, you can learn to read. I promise you'll find it useful someday. And I'm sure it won't kill you either." She went back to dicing her carrots, signaling the conversation was over.

I got up from the table, furious. Every time I ever disagreed with her, she always pulled the 'I'm the parent, I know best card'. It was infuriating to say the least. I stormed through the house and out the back door into what was left of the some persons' backyard.

It had probably been a nice view at some point, with a large pine tree standing proudly in the middle, and bushes upon bushes of flowers along the edge of the fence. But now, the tree had grown out of control, and weeds had started strangling the flowers into extinction. But I didn't care much. I was too mad to care about what flowers a person had planted a decade ago. I just walked on past, into the next house and up the stairs, finally crashing in one of the bedrooms. My stomach rumbled at me, reminding me that I had never actually finished that piece of bread, and I briefly thought about going back to get it. But my pride wouldn't let me. I had marched out to be mad, and I was going to do just that for a couple hours at least. And I didn't feel like talking to my mom for a while. So I sat here, looking out the window at the bay far away.

The water was eerily calm, completely at odds with how it had been this morning, when the wind was howling, and waves pounded the beach like huge, watery fists. Now you could barely make out the island that floated in the middle. It would be almost completely hidden, if not for the huge concrete complex that had been built on top of it. Alcatraz, my mother had called it. It had been the most secure prison back in its' hay-day, before being turned into a museum. It was hard to imagine that there hadn't been enough criminals to make it worthwhile to keep open, but I guess things were different back then. People now-a-days weren't exactly the most, err, _civil_, to put it nicely. Most of them would kill you if they had the chance.

A couple hours passed. My mother didn't come looking for me, which I was happy for. Although, it annoyed me that she didn't check to see if I was okay, but I guess she knew me well enough to know I didn't want to be bothered. Even though she was frustrating at times, I still loved her to death. She was the only person I had, and I couldn't imagine what I would do without her. Probably get killed off or sold into slavery in an incredibly short amount of time.

Eventually hunger brought me back to the house. The thought of bread had finally won out, and I reluctantly dragged myself back to the kitchen to get some food. A plate was on the table, with some bread and carrots on it for me. I ravaged the bread, before doing my best to swallow the carrots. Even after five minutes of finally chocking down the last slice of carrot, I could still feel its sliminess on the back of my throat. It was downright revolting.

After a few minutes, I noticed I was still alone in the kitchen. The book was no longer sitting on the table. For a moment, I thought I had thrown it in my fit of rage, but I realized that my mother must have picked it up and taken it with her upstairs. The floorboard above me creaked, and I figured I had better go let her know I was back. And probably, maybe, apologize. Maybe.

I walked through the hallway. The house had been a nice place once. The coffee table in the living room was still stacked with magazines, now covered in layers of dust. An old picture hung crooked on the wall, showing the family who had lived here before. A man dressed up like a teacher stood next to his wife, who had red streaks combed through her hair. The twin boys were a spitting image of their father, though his daughter had dark grey eyes instead of brown. Other than that, there was no doubt as to who she was related too. They obviously used to be a happy family, in a happy home.

But if you looked closer, the house told a different story. Scars covered the walls, huge scratches from people fighting or just abusing the place. There were bullet holes peppered in the big oak door at the front of the house. Even the bright picture hadn't escaped unscathed. The glass pane was shattered, and holes had been burned into parts of the photo.

Upstairs I passed what looked like it had been a study. Books littered the floor, and I could only imagine how difficult it would have been to read all those. But what really caught my attention was the huge table in the middle. Figurines and biplanes were scattered across it, all buried under dust. A barely blue river ran snaked across it, and some planes still hung from strings in the ceiling, though most of them were more than ready to plummet to the table below.

My mom was laid out on the bed, quietly reading the book she had carried around with us for as long as I can remember. Wherever we had gone, it had come with us, and almost every night since I was a little kid she had read some story to me from it. I could almost recite all of them now, word for word.

She looked up when I walked in and gave me a small smile. "Glad to see you come back, all safe and sound."

I tried not to look too sheepish. "I try my best to stay out of trouble." I shuffled around nervously. "So, I'm, uh, sorry. I shouldn't have gotten mad earlier. It was a stupid thing to do." Ya, I know. I'm not the best at apologizing. It's not like it was something I had to get used too.

She beamed at me. One of those smiles that lets you know that no matter how unbearable I can be at times, she still loved me. Something that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. "I will always love you Aiden, no matter what." She patted the bed beside her. "Now come here so I can ready my baby boy a story."

I sighed. "I'm not a baby anymore, mom. I'm almost 15 now."

She laughed. "To me you will always be my baby boy. Now come on, what story do you want to hear tonight?"

"I don't want to listen to a story tonight." I sat down on the bed next to her. "At least, not one of those."

My mother almost looked heartbroken. "Then what to do you want to hear?"

I sat there for a couple minutes, wondering, before jumping to a thought I had earlier. I pictured the concrete city of Alcatraz, and what it had been like long before. "I want to know what the world was like. Before everything happened. Before all the eruptions and earthquakes destroyed everything."

Her faced morphed into a mixture of sadness and longing. "Why do you want to know that, sweety? There's no point in dwelling on the past. It will not change the future." She turned to gaze out the window.

"I guess I'm just curious," I defended. "I want to know what it was like back then. Where did we live? What was our house like? What did we do for fun?" I prodded some more. "You're always telling me that it's important to know where I come from." I gave her a mischievous grin. "So, where did I come from?"

My mom sighed in defeat. "I guess one little story couldn't hurt too much." She playfully poked me in the ribs. "Where to start..." She trailed off and went silent. I sat there for a few minutes, worrying that she wasn't going to say anything.

"We used to live in a state called South Carolina," she said. "In a city called Charleston. Our house was on a beautiful stretch of beach, with the sand as soft as a pillow. People would often fall asleep in it during the middle of the day, and when they woke up," she started to laugh, "they would like they were a lobster than had just crawled onto the beach."

She reached out and pinched my cheek. I lazily tried to swat her away, failing horribly. But I wasn't too worried. I didn't mind being like her little baby boy sometimes. Sometimes.

"Oh, you just loved to play in the sand. You were so cute back then, in your little blue baby outfit. There were quite a few times when I had to drag you back to the house, kicking and screaming. I wouldn't have been the least bit surprised if you magically poofed into a dolphin and swam away. You were a very adventurous boy back then."

I already did not like this idea. It was bad enough that I still got called her 'baby boy' every now and then, and I didn't really want to hear about the time when I actually _was _her baby boy.

"There was a small café around the corner from us, who had the most delicious chocolate pies. I loved taking you there. The waitresses just adored you. From time to time, they would 'sneak' you a piece of candy, pretending that I didn't notice. They absolutely gushed over you, talking about how they hoped to have babies as cute and cuddly as you were."

By this time in the story, I was regretting ever asking. I didn't want to know how cute I looked in some baby outfit, or how 'adorable' some women thought I was as a baby. Even though there was nobody around except my mom, I could feel my cheeks starting to turn red from the embarrassment. "Alright mom, I get it." I said. "I was a cute baby. You can stop talking about it now." I tried to avoid looking at the mirror, but ti didn't work. All I saw in it was the reflection was a ripe tomato, which just embarrassed me even more.

"Aww," my mother replied, disappointed. "Don't you want to hear about the time you rubbed chocolate on your face just so the girls could wipe it off for you?" She nudged me with her elbow.

"No, mom," I pleaded, covering my ears, "I really don't."

"But it was such a good story," she pouted.

"Really, it's ok. I'm pretty sure I get."

She pouted a little more, before eventually continuing. "We went to your uncles' cabin once. He built it himself, you know, deep in the forests. He liked to have his privacy from time to time. It was not un-common to talk to him non-stop for days, and then hear nothing from him for a month or two. It always worried me a little bit that he could become so isolated, but I guess we all needed time to ourselves."

"One day while we were there, I was inside, making lunch for the three of us. You were outside, playing in the woods, when there was a muffled grunting noise outside. Your uncle stood up so fast the chair slid into the wall, and he took off outside. I nearly panicked, seeing him take off like that. The second he burst out the door though, he nearly fell off the porch laughing. I ran out behind him and had trouble believing what I was seeing."

"There you were, standing in the middle of the yard, not a care in the world. You were scratching the belly of a wild boar, and his eyes were white, rolled back in pleasure. It could have easily run you over, or killed you. Its' tusks were as long as your arm. But if I hadn't known better, I could've sworn you had known each other your whole lives. Later that night…."

I had started to doze off, but I immediately bolted upright. Like a sudden lightning strike, it popped up in my mind. I _remembered_ that story. "It came back, right? It was pawing at the front door until Uncle threatened to shoot it. I remember. It… It had dark red fur…" I looked at my mom for conformation.

She looked taken back. "I'm impressed Aiden. You couldn't have been more than 3 or 4 years old at the time." My mom leaned in closer, looking at me expectantly. "What else do you remember?"

_A lot more_, I thought_._ I had been playing with some sticks I had taken out of the forest when there was a rustling next to me. When I looked up, I saw the boar, its' wild eyes fixed on me. I don't know why, but it didn't scare me at all when I saw it, I was just curious as to what it was doing there. It prodded over, before it seemingly tripped over something. Its' head ducked lower for just a second, before it started nuzzling my arm. It was obvious it wanted petted. So I did, scratching it behind the ear like my mom had taught me with other people's pets, before it rolled over and I started rubbing it stomach.

But now that I thought about it, the boar almost seemed to… _bow_?

That's when my uncle burst out the door, my mom right behind him. When he saw I had a new friend, he just laughed, before turning to my mother. "That's quite the special kid you have there." He winked at her.

She slapped him with the spatula she was holding. "You promised, remember?" She glared back at him.

It only caused my uncle to laugh more. "No one would ever believe me, even if I told it to the world. Heck, I wouldn't even believe myself if I hadn't met him. Your secret couldn't be safer Catherine." And he went back inside, my mother on his heels.

I hadn't thought about it in years, and I couldn't even be sure if I had imagined the whole thing or not. It wasn't until much later that I learned that not animals behaved like that. I just figured that I was some sort of Boar Whisperer or something.

"Aiden?" My mother asked. "Do you remember anything else?"

I didn't say anything, just shook my head 'No'. It was too weird to even think about. I didn't even know what I would say, and I certainly didn't feel like having a discussion about it.

"What was his name?" I asked, trying to hurry up and change the subject. "My uncle?"

"Uncle George" my mom answered. "But you used to call him 'Ooo-Jay'. For some reason you had trouble pronouncing your letters back then. But he seemed to like the nick-name, so we never tried to get you to say it right."

"Uncle OO-jay," I chuckled. "What happened to him? Where is he now?"

The second I asked, I wished I hadn't. My mother's mood cannonballed quickly.

"He died when we were trying to get out of Charleston." She said. "He died getting us out of the city." Her shoulders slumped, and I imagined she was trying to sink back into the mattress to get away from the sadness. I decided now would be a good time to get some sleep. My mom would probably appreciate some time alone. And honestly, I was afraid of asking anymore questions. I didn't want to unintentionally open anymore memories of pain.

I curled up, pulling the covers over me and started to get comfortable. I was just about to pass out, thinking about how much more comfortable this bed was compared to the last few I had slept on when my mother started talking again.

"Your Uncle was a brave man Aiden. And I hope you grow up one day to be just like him." She said quietly.

I rolled over, trying to blink the weariness out of my eyes. "What?" I rubbed them again for good measure.

My mother didn't seem to hear me. She was lost in a trance, re-living that day. "I still can tell you what day it was. August 1st, the Day of Hope. Ironic, isn't it? The day of Hope was the day humanity lost all hope in its survival as a species." Tears started to well up in her eyes, one of them eventually streaking the dust on her face. "What an ironic day for the world as we knew it to end."

"Your Uncle, George, had come down to Charleston for the week on vacation. You and him were playing in the ocean. He was trying to teach you how to swim, but the waves kept rolling you over, knocking you out." She smiled sadly. "It had been a beautiful day, so peaceful and quiet. You could easily hear the crickets chirp from the stream. I had gone to the store to get some food. Your uncle had promised to grill us his specialty steaks out on the beach that night."

"I was picking out bread when you could feel it. The entire store went silent, as if everyone somehow knew what was going to happen. Then the sirens went off. The earth started shaking so, so violently. Shelves toppled over on people. The roof started to tear, patches of it ripping off and crushing anything on the floor below it. I was thrown to the ground, and I laid there, simply trying to keep myself from being tossed around like a rag doll."

"The news stations immediately started their emergency broadcasts, but the power went out before anyone could figure out what they were trying to tell us. When I could finally get to my feet after the ground had stopped shaking, almost every building more than two stories tall had been flattened, burying everything around them. People panicked, running around the store, pushing each other out of the way, fighting for food, water, whatever they could get their hands on."

"I was no better. I ran around the store, desperately trying to find anything I thought could be useful. George, thankfully, had a much clearer head. He had grabbed you the second the earthquakes hit, and raced to the store to get me. By the time he got there, it was so flooded with people that it became almost impossible to move. I will never know how he managed to find me so quick. He grabbed me by the wrist and dragged me out, with you wrapped up in his other hand."

"You stared at everyone with such a confused expression on your face. You couldn't understand why everyone was fighting and shouting and hurting each other. It wasn't long before you buried your face in his shoulder and tried to cover your ears from all the noise. I wish I could have done the same."

"George finally managed to get us outside. All the cars in the parking lot had already been vandalized or stolen, but he had been smart enough to park a few blocks away, in the middle of an industrial complex. He managed to corral me into the passenger seat and strapped you in, before he finally drove us out of there. I noticed he had already packed all of our clothes, food, everything else we needed to survive."

"We were almost out of the city when they ran into us. Two men in their truck. They clipped the back of our car, spiraling us out of control into the ditch. I don't know if they meant to do it or not, but they came over, saw us dazed and confused, and decided to take advantage of it. They went through the car, stealing everything of value. Your uncle tried to get out of the car, collapsing on the ground. He managed to pull himself up, stumbling over to one of the guys. George tried to take a swing, but he was clearly still in shock from the crash, and the guy moved out of the way easily. He just fell back to the ground."

"The guy looked at him for a second, almost with pity, before…" She quivered, and I could see the tears streaming down her cheeks. "Before he shot him. Twice. In the back."

I just stared at my mom, dumbfounded. My mouth hung gaped open. I had no idea what to say. I couldn't even describe what I was feeling. I had no control over anything; I could just continue staring at her in shock.

"The gunshots snapped me out of my trance," she cried. "I ran over to him and tried to stop the bleeding. But there was nothing I could do. I just sat there for what seemed like hours, crying. It had felt like someone had just pulled the world out from under my feet. I started tearing at my shirt, trying to make some makeshift bandages to stop the bleeding. Trying desperately to save my brother. It was pointless. But I tried anyway. George, he… He finally slapped me, jarring me back to reality. He had been trying to tell me something, but I hadn't even noticed."

"What… What did he say?" I mumbled tentatively, afraid to even draw attention to my presence. I could clearly see the pain and sadness in my mom's eyes, but there was something else in there too. She was heartbroken, of course, but she couldn't help but feel angry. Angry at the world from stealing everything from her. Her home, her friends, her life, her brother. The only piece of consolation she had left was me, her son. I was the only one left. And she hated everything in the world for it. The unfairness, the cruelty.

She sniffled, trying in vain to wipe her nose. "He told me to run, and never look back. He told me that no matter what, I had to keep moving forward, keep on going, for your sake." She looked at me, and a fresh round of tears started. "He told me I had to do everything I could to keep my son safe."

I did the only thing I thought could possibly help. I wrapped her in the biggest hug possible. She buried her nose into my shoulder, wiping it all over my shirt. It didn't bother me at all. Her body wrenched every couple of seconds with her sobs. Seeing her break down like that was scary for me. She had always appeared strong and confident to me before, to the point that I sometimes forgot she wasn't a robot. She was just another person trying to hold it all together. For my sake.

I stared out the window at the sunset. I wondered how many other people had gone through something just as horrible. How many people would have never been able to make it this far.

It was then I realized my mother was a lot stronger than I'd ever imagined. I had been feeling kind of guilty for earlier, but now it felt like someone had tied my heart to a bowling ball and thrown it off a cliff. My mom had already gone through a lot, and she didn't need my help to add any more problems to her life. There were plenty already.

After a few minutes, she started to put herself back together. She gave me one final squeeze, before disengaging.

"Rest, Aiden," she sniffled. "You need your sleep."

I started to protest. "I'm fine mom, really…"

"No Aiden, you need to rest." Her voice wavered. I figured if I pushed anymore she would either knock me out, or even worse, break down again.

"Alright, mom. I'll sleep." I gave in. "But, if you need anything, don't hesitate to wake me. Please?"

A smile tugged at her lips, if only for a moment. It was good to see. "Don't worry honey. I will."

She got up from the bed and walked towards the door. I crawled under the blankets, trying to figure out how I was supposed to sleep now. A guilty conscience was going to keep me up all night.

She stopped in the doorway. "Now you know." She said. "Now you know what it was like before this. Before men became worse than animals." She disappeared behind the wall. Though I doubt she meant too, she made me feel even cruddier than before.

Before I knew, I was dead to the world.


	3. Chapter 2

A few hours later, I jolted awake, sweating. Bad dreams again, I thought. But at least they were dreams. I always woke up at some point. But I couldn't shake the feeling that something was happening. They had started happening a couple years ago, and since then they were only getting more frequent. And worse. I almost longed for the days of creepy killer clowns. Out the window, the full moon had started peaking over the roofs of the adjacent houses, bathing the bedroom in a soft white glow. My mother had told me, a rather I read, that the moon was the symbol of Artemis. I had a hard time something that looked so peaceful was the symbol of a goddess who loved hunting things. The two just didn't seem to really mesh together well.

I stretched my limbs before getting out of bed. Even though a had slept for what looked like only a couple hours I felt great. My mom probably could use some sleep now, and I felt like I owed her it. If I stayed up the next week to keep a watch out at night, I knew I was still going to feel bad. While most nights I wouldn't have felt any guilt at sleeping in a couple extra hours, but after tonight, well, after tonight I knew I couldn't let myself do that.

I still couldn't shake that feeling out. I was so used to my mom being tough and strong. Even over-protective of me (to be fair, it _is_ the apocalypse), but still, just a tiny bit. But now I felt like I should be the one protecting her. At least let her know that I didn't have to rely on her; in fact, she could start relying on me. I even promised myself to do her reading assignments, though I still kind of thought they were a waste of time.

I walked out of the bedroom, and down the hall, heading to the balcony the over-looked the front yard. Just before I opened the sliding door, I froze to the spot in fear. A man's voice come from down below me. How did he get in here? What was he doing?

I started hyper-ventilating. Where was my mother? What happened to her?

I crept over to the stairs, trying to peek through the railing into the living room. A huge silhouette of a man stood off to the side, up against the window. He was waving his arms around angrily as he spoke. "Bah," he growled. "You can't hide him forever Catherine. Sooner or later, you will no longer be able to protect him."

Another silhouette shifted. I couldn't tell the shape of it was, but I was floored when I heard her speak. "I will try my very best to do so. You can bet on that," my mother replied back. "He isn't leaving my side. Ever. And that's final. I don't care what you have to say."

"You can't baby him forever. He will have to pick up his own sword, sooner or later."

"It will be later, if I can help it." My mother said. "The answer is still the same. He isn't leaving to fight in your war."

"You cannot stop his fate. If you try, it will only make it worse for him." The man shot back. "And the world will slide back into chaos. Is that what you want? To see the world perish?"

I had to catch myself from falling down the stairs. What did he just say? I didn't understand how things could be worse than they already were.

"I want to keep my son alive." She spat. "I don't care what it takes. Or what it costs. Your world can be destroyed, as long as my son lives. I know what will happen if he fights for you. You will send him to his grave. He will die fighting for you for your pathetic kingdom!"

"How many more are you willing to sacrifice before you let him fight? You already know what will happen. You cannot stop it. Even the Gods cannot meddle with Fate."

The words seemed to have slapped her across the face. "I… I can find a way." She stuttered. "I will find a way."

The big guy let out a harsh laugh. "You already know you cannot. Either you must take him now. Or others will. I can no longer protect him. I will no longer protect him." He glanced out the window, and my mother followed suit.

"No!" She looked panic-stricken. "You can't let them take him. You can't!"

"They have been following you for weeks, and I could no longer hide his trail from them. I told you to take him sooner, Catherine. You did not listen to me! Instead, you dragged him across the country!" He yelled. "Now, you have two choices. The easy way, or the hard way. And choose quickly, or _they_," he nodded out the window, "will make the choice for you." He took a step back, and I scrambled for the cover of the wall. You could feel his hard glare scanned the house, before the place lit up like Christmas.

My mother took off like a scared mouse downstairs, grabbing everything of value that we had. I tore down the hallway to the bedroom window, and squinted down the street, trying to figure out what they had been talking about. At first, I couldn't see anything. Nothing in sight moved. Just as I was about to leave, I heard a door slam, about 4 houses down. A giant, ugly, thing of a man popped out from the house, carrying a flower vase. Soon enough 3 other blobs came out of the house, arguing over something.

Something touch my shoulder, and I jumped, whirling around. My mother was behind, with a terrified expression on her face.

"Bandits," we both said in unison.

"Grab your stuff Aiden," my mother whispered. "And quick! Meet me in the backyard in thirty seconds!"

I nodded, not needing to be told twice. It took only seconds to pack everything I had in my small backpack, which wasn't much; just some clothes and a small hunting knife, and tore off down the stairs. I looked down the hallway, wondering if it was worth the risk to double-check the kitchen for some food. We only had a few loaves of bread left, and we weren't going to survive long on it, bandits or not. No sooner had I taken a step that the front door shuddered, knocking the coat hanger to the floor.

"Hurry up," one of the men outside growled. "We ain't got all night."

"I don't see you doing anything to help Bill," another replied. He was right behind the door, presumably the one trying to bash it in. "How 'bout I smash your face into it?"

I didn't wait to see if the guy could head-butt his way in. I tip-toed out the back door, doing my best to close the door as quietly as possible. It closed with a satisfyingly quiet _click!_

I whirled around, readying to take off through the backyard, punting the only flower pot left across the deck. It teetered toward the edge of the wood, wobbling along the edge.

Inside, I heard the front door creak open. "It was unlocked, you nim-wit," Bill said, wiggling the door handle. "Did you even try it?"

"Are you mocking me?" The other guy asked, a dangerous edge to his voice.

Bill snorted. "Do you even know what that means?"

"Enough," a third guy warned, obviously the leader. "Do your jobs. Unless you _want_ to be shot."

Just as I was about to jump off the deck, the vase fell, shattering the quiet night like a gunshot. I froze to the spot with fear. My heart turned to lead.

"What was that?" Bill asked.

"Big Jim, Butch, go check it out," the leader ordered.

"Why us?" one of them asked.

"Because I said so. Now go!"

_No!_ I wanted to scream. _I was so close!_ I muttered curses at everything I could as I stormed down the deck, trying to at least be a little bit quiet. It didn't help that every time I took a step, the wood creaked and moaned. I scanned the area, looking for at least a little cover, but there wasn't much. I could hide behind the tree, and hope the bandits weren't too eager in searching. But if they took even a couple steps in either direction, I would be toast. So I went for the only other option. I ducked into the dead flowers and dried up weeds, surely flattening everything in a 5 foot radius. I figured I might as well shoot up a flare to let everyone know I was here. Stealth wasn't exactly a forte I had.

I had manage to stop rustling all the dead plants when the back door flew open to reveal the ugliest person I ever saw (or will see.) He was a very short, very buff dude, with scars covering almost every part of his body. It wouldn't have surprised me if he had one of two on his toes. His face looked like someone had decided to beat on it with a brick. His nose didn't hang straight. His was missing a good amount of teeth, and what wasn't missing was crooked and yellow. The black hair on his head was greasy and matted, like a family of rats were nesting in it. A second guy, who was obviously had to be his twin brother, followed him out onto the deck. The only difference was that he had bright red hair, and at least half a dozen more scars on his face.

The second guy hardly checked the yard. "Come on Butch," he tugged at his brother arm. "I think I saw some food in the kitchen."

I nearly snickered. The guy sounded like the Mickey Mouse character from way back when I was a little kid.

Butch took his arm back. "No," he said. "There's someone back here." He took a step off the deck, slowly walking to my hiding spot.

"You sure?" His brother asked.

"Sure I'm sure," he replied.

_This can't be happening_, I thought. _How are we going to get out of this?_

We. My heart stopped. It took every ounce of will power I had to not move. Where was she? I realized I hadn't seen her anywhere back here. Panic started to build up. What if she didn't get out? What if she was still inside the house? I became so focused in my thoughts I hardly registered that Butch was nearly on me. Any second now he would pull back those bushes and find me. I didn't care. Would my mom be able to get away if I made a big enough scene?

His arm started towards me. My body tensed, my fingers wrapping around my hunting knife, getting ready to spring out at him. Just before he grabbed it, a pine cone fell from the tree, followed quickly by another one. A third pummeled itself into the base of the tree. Butch's head snapped toward the sound, with a sick look in his black, beady eyes.

I didn't take my eyes off him, but I know what had made that sound. Butch stalked towards the tree, pulling my mother out from her hiding spot by her chestnut hair, kicking and screaming, the piece of cloth she used to keep her hair back fluttering to the ground.

"Boss!" Screeched Mickey Mouse, forcing me to cover my eardrums. "We got something!"

The first guy ran out, eyeing my mom, probably wondering how much he could sell her for. The second one strolled out casually, like he was showing up to dinner. He watched as Butch the Bulldozer dragged my mother up the stairs, still struggling against his grip.

My body turned to lead. I couldn't move my arms, my legs, my head. My stomach started doing continuous somersaults. My vision started to spin, my senses overloading themselves with terror.

Their leader started inspecting her like she was a present he had been waiting a long time to receive.

Butch dumped my mother like a sack of hammers at her feet. "So boss, what should we do with her?" He started stroking her face. She recoiled from her touch, but her yanked her back closer to him. His started to slide his hand down her back.

His brother perked up. "Can we take her with us?" He begged their leader, trying his best to do an interpretation of puppy dog eyes. I would have vomited if there was anything left in my stomach.

Butch gave his brother a hard glare. "I say we kill her. Just for the fun of it."

"I want to keep her," his brother countered. "She looks pretty!" He stared at her like she was a toy he wanted all his life.

"Kill her." Butch growled.

"Keep her!"

"Kill her!"

"Keep her!"

They kept arguing like that, until Butch took a swing. His brother ducked it and tackled him off the deck, where they started rolling around in the dirt. The leader looked at the guy to his right. "Bill, would you break that up please? Don't' want Butch to give Big Jim yet another scar. He is ugly enough already."

"Why would I do that Smoky?" Bill absently checked his fingernails.

"How about I shoot you? How would you like that?" Smoky patted the pistol at his hip.

"I'd like to see that." Bill checked his other hand. "Wonder how that one would go over with _her_."

Smoky scowled and drew his pistol. A single shot rang out, splattering the ground next to the bear wrestling match. "Get up, both of you," he barked. "I would hate for our guest here to think we were… _Uncivilized_."

"Now if the two imbeciles don't mind," he leaned down, studying my moms' face, "I have a couple questions to ask you Catherine. I hope you will be wise enough to answer them."

She spit in his face.

Smoky jerked back, before backhanding my mother, leaving a perfect hand print on the side of her face. "Now that is no way to be civil. You'll answer my questions, or you will learn what true pain is," he threatened. "Do I make myself clear?"

She turned her head to the side and spit out… a tooth? "Yes," she answered.

"Good. You'll find that cooperation can be very… rewarding. However, if you choose _not_ to cooperate," Smoky raised his hand for emphasis. "Now, I have been looking for a certain person. A certain person I understand you know well. He has blonde hair, blue eyes, about six feet tall. Seems to be a bit, temperamental, at times. His name is Aiden Young, and I have been led to believe he is your son, am I right?" He moved closer until his face was inches from my mothers'. "Where is he?" He said so quietly I could barely register the words.

"I have no idea," she hissed back. "He's gone."

Smoky straightened, smacking her again. "You'll find I am not a man of patience, Ms. Young. Do not test me again. Now where is your son?" He growled.

"I will never tell you a thing, monster."

That seemed to get under Smokys' skin. "That, Ms. Young, is the wrong answer. You will be telling us _all_ your secrets, with or without your cooperation." He turned to Bill. "Bind her; we're taking her with us." He gave me my mom one last cold glare. "You will regret this Catherine. You cannot begin to fathom what is in store for you. Death will seem pleasant to where you will be going." Smoky spun, walking back into the house.

Bill rummaged around in his pack, pulling out some rope and tossing it to Butch, who started tying my mothers' wrists. After he was done, he threw her over her shoulder like a rag doll.

"See? We're taking her with us." Big Jim pointed out.

"Shut up," Butch mumbled. "Before I break your teeth in."

I caught her eyes just before they disappeared into the house. My mom didn't say anything, but her intentions were as clear as day. _Don't be a hero, stay safe. I love you._ She disappeared behind the door, a delighted Big Jim right behind her.

Bill delayed. He stayed on the deck, intently scanning the back yard. His eyes went down one side of the yard and up the other, passing over my spot. Almost instantly they snapped back. I knew he saw me. There was no way he was fooled by my pathetic attempt at hiding. The thought almost made me happy. I didn't care if I was some Bandit gangs' prisoner, at least my mom and I would be together. We could find a way to get out. We could find a way to run away.

But what he did horrified me even more, to pile on to everything else that had happened to me tonight. Bill left, pausing at the door only long enough to wink at me, before disappearing into the house after the rest of his bandit gang. He left me there, like I was just a pile of garbage that wasn't worth his time. I collapsed on the spot from shock immediately.

It was almost half an hour before I could finally get my body to move. Sadness, fear, and loneliness swirled inside me like a hurricane. I was barely able to drag myself out of the bushes to the spot Butch had kidnapped my mother. Tears soaked my cheeks, spilling to the ground. She had dropped those pinecones deliberately, so the bandits would find her instead of me. She was gone. Just like that. And it was all my fault. She sacrificed herself to save me.

Something soft brushed my hand and I looked down. The red cloth she always tied in her hair laid there on the ground, covered in Pine needles, like it had been there for weeks. I gingerly picked it up, knowing it was the only thing I had left of her. I slipped it into my pocket.

Eventually, I was able to get myself inside, dropping my bag on the floor, and plummeting into the couch. My body felt like dead weight, like my arms and legs had suddenly been filled with lead. My chest felt empty and throbbed, like someone had just dug out my heart with a hot spoon. I barely found the energy to move my head so I didn't suffocate on the couch cushion, but I didn't know what the point of it was.

I scanned the room briefly. The Bandits seemed to have taken nothing, though that was barely a comfort. Lamp shards were scattered across the floor, but everything else was just as it had been. _Great_, I thought, _kill me now. _I don't know how I could sleep, but exhaustion finally forced my eyelids to shut themselves.

Bad dreams were the last thing I needed, but the Universe had decided that everything bad that could happen in my life would happen tonight. I could imagine the stars in the sky staring down at me, laughing so hard they burst into supernovas. But what really sealed the deal was how vivid it was. My dream was so life-like, so real, I had trouble believing I was still asleep on a couch some random house, somewhere in San Francisco.

I was in a cave, lit by a single, solidary candle hanging from the ceiling. The walls glittered like fresh pennies, moisture dripping off of them into black puddles below. A bat dropped down from the ceiling, screeching, before flying off into an invisible tunnel. A figure walked into the room, sitting in the only chair that was in the room. He put his feet on the small table in front of him and fished out a tattered newspaper from inside his shredded jacket. I didn't know what was older, the newspaper or the jacket.

"You have failed me yet again." A womans' voice rang throughout the cavern. I didn't actually hear her talk, it was more like a vibration, or an echo. But I could still understand her perfectly. And she was angry.

The outburst startled the man at the table. He toppled out of his chair, landing hard on the cavern floor. When he stood up, he had half a newspaper in each hand, and he was clearly mad about it.

"That was my last copy!" He shouted at no one in particular. "Now how am I supposed to keep up on the news?"

Be quiet!" The woman yelled back. "That piece of parchment was over nine years old, you idiot. The letters had already faded off the page."

"Was still nice to look at," the man grumbled quietly.

"Where is the boy?" The woman demanded.

"He wasn't there. Seems your 'contact' was misinformed. Or just unintelligent. I think the verdict is still out on that one. "

"My contact has more brainpower than your entire gang of bandits. My information was correct. Now, I will ask one more time. Where is the boy?"

The guy pulled out a knife, examining it lazily. "I have no idea."

"Do not patronize me, you fool. Remember how you came to be in this world. You are here by my blessing, one that I can just as easily take away. Or maybe you would enjoy going back, to continue pushing your pebble back up your hill? Where is the…"

"Still the same answer," he interrupted. "Honestly, if I knew where he was, don't you think I would have told you by now? Asking the same question over and over," he rotated his knife with each word, "it just seems so… dim-witted. I would have figure that you would be better than that. Seems that this time, I was misinformed."

"Why you little…"

"However," he cut in again. "I did find someone who could be of great use to use. Although, she seems to be very unwilling to cooperate with me. I figured some time down here, with you, should be more than enough to loosen her tongue." He gestured to the edge of the room. "Why don't you bring her in?"

A large person walked into the room, carrying a large burlap sack. He dumped it in the middle of the room, cutting open the side of the sack with his knife, letting whatever was inside spill out.

"You can go now," the first guy commanded. "This is a private conversation."

The carrier grunted his disapproval, but eventual left the room down the tunnel.

The man who was talking moved off to the side, letting the measly light fall on whatever was brought into the room. As I looked closer, I realize it wasn't something, it was _someone_. Her brown hair looked like someone had tried to rip it out, and fresh bruises and cuts covered her arms. Her clothes had been torn and splattered with mud.

I gasped, immediately clamping my hands over my mouth. It didn't seem to matter though, as I didn't make a sound. No one paid any attention to me.

"I would like to introduce you to our guest, mistress. We found her at the spot your boy was supposed to be." The guy lifted her chin up with his finger. "Would you like to answer my questions now? This will be the last chance you get."

The woman looked at him murderously. "I will never help you. Either of you."

"Tisk, tisk." He wagged his finger. "I guess we will have to do the hard way then." He looked up, staring at the ceiling. "What do you think? Is she good enough for you?" He asked the cave.

It was a long time before anyone responded. "Yes," the woman answered. "She will do. I will tolerate your arrogance this time Smoky, but do not presume to ever try me again. Your time in the Fields of Punishment will feel like a vacation compared to where I will send you." She threatened.

The guy gave her a dry laugh. "And where would you be without me Gaea? Slumbering away in your sleep still, no doubt. If it weren't for me, you'd be sucking on your thumb still, dreaming away like Hypnos. I am the one who captured that sparky little brat and his girlfriend. I am the one who brought them to Athens to sacrifice to you. I am the reason you are here now, to exact your revenge."

"Yes," she agreed. "You are the reason I am here, stuck in this cave. You may be clever in your tricks Smoky, but you are too prideful. You thought you had won, and in your false security the enemy surprised you! Now here I am, unable to leave this forsaken cave. Your usefulness will end one day."

The guy threw up his hands in defense. "How do you prepare against a guy who jumps through darkness?"

"With light, you imbecile!" She roared, shaking the whole cavern. "Now leave us, before I decide to make your time on this Earth shorter!"

The man bowed briskly. He turned on his heels and was gone in an instant.

The woman on the floor looked up, fear and anger in her green eyes. I _know_ those eyes.

"Catherine," Gaea purred. "It has been too long."

Mom? I tried to scream. Yell for her. Let her know I was here. I could help her. But my voice made no sound. Before I could figure out a way to reach her, the image faded entirely and I was in a completely different place.

Four figures huddle around a campfire, cold and shivering. They looked beat up, tired, and generally down on themselves. The girl was bandaging her arm, and the guy sitting next to her had his leg wrapped up in a splint.

"Are you sure?" The guy with the splint asked.

"Yes, I'm positive. She said he could help us end this war." Another answered.

"What exactly did she say Will?" The girl asked.

"That's it really. She said to go find a Son of War and that he would be the answer to our problem." Will answered again. "She didn't say much else. Not like the Gods are very straight forward to begin with."

"Our problem?" The other uninjured one said in disbelief. "I would like to know exactly what _isn't_ a problem at the moment."

"He means this kid can help us end this war," the girl shot back. "It's not that hard to figure out."

"This war? This has been an annihilation. It's nothing short of a miracle that anyone is still alive. Let alone us. We might as well paint targets on our back and dance around the fire chanting." The kid rolled his eyes.

"Thanks for the pep talk James. I really needed that." The guy with the splint mumbled.

"I'm just saying Connor," James defended. "What hope do we have of winning this war? We're having a hard enough time surviving from day to day. It's only a matter of time before they find our camp. Gabriel can't use her arm, you can hardly walk."

"You can stop now, Captain Sunshine," Will said. "We get it."

"I'm just looking at the big picture. You have us out here, looking for a demigod, a single demigod, who is supposed to tip the balance of this 'war' in our favor, if that's even possible, based on a dream sent to you by a notoriously unhelpful goddess. And now we're out here with two days left of food, and a three day journey back to camp." James looked at each of them. "I got all of that right?"

"Yes," Connor said glumly, "I think you covered the basics."

"Percy Jackson was single demigod, and he won the Titan War," Gabriel piped in.

"James, shut up," Will said. "Seriously, we got it."

"I'm just being realistic." James put his hands up.

Will sighed. "I know it's not much, but we have to do something. Percy and Annabeth are gone. They haven't been seen or heard from in years. The others barely made it out of Greece alive, and not all of them did. The Camp needs hope. We need to do something, anything. The world needs this. And if it doesn't pan out the way we want it too, we're all going to be dead by years' end anyway. Are you happy now?" Will asked.

"No, not really," Connor replied honestly.

James thought for a bit. "Well," he mumbled, "when you put it that way, this sounds like a great idea."

"Ya, me either," Will agreed. "Go to sleep guys. I'll take first watch. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be another long day."


	4. Chapter 3

Shortly after dawn is when I woke up. The sun had just crested above the hills, burning a startling blood red. Dew covered the grass, refracting the light into a million different rainbows across the ceiling of the living room. Such a beautiful sight for such a cruel world, I thought miserably. My mother was gone. I was alone. I had no one left. Not like I had many people to begin with.

_Don't think about it_, I told myself. _It'll only make it worse_. But it didn't work. It was the only thing I could think about. What was I supposed to do now? Where would I go? How would I even survive? I could hardly cook. It would be a miracle if anything I made would be edible. Those were the things my mom always took care of.

_One thing at a time_, I decided. First, I need to find some food. I sat up, rubbing my eyes, and headed for the kitchen, hoping the bandits didn't take everything with them. After half an hour of opening every cabinet, cupboard, and pantry I could find I gave up. I even checked the dressers and closets for anything hidden. These people obviously didn't like their hidden stashes of candy.

A fly flew in through the open window, made a few passes through the house looking for food. After a bit, he buzzed out, leaving me alone again. Great. Even the fly didn't find anything worth staying for. Hopelessness started to replace the fear. What was I going to do? I had no idea where to look for food, and I didn't know how to hunt. There was no way I could sneak up on something. I had a hard time stealing apples from trees. More than once, I'd been pelted by them.

As I was making another round through the kitchen, something appeared in the corner of my vision. Instantly, my hand settled on the handle of my hunting knife. A shadow sprawled out across the hallway, originating from the living room. It definitely hadn't been there 5 minutes ago. I didn't remember having company when I raided the coffee table.

How did they get in without me noticing? For a hopeful second, I thought it was the bandits. Maybe they had come back to kidnap me. That sounded better than just being left here to die, all by myself. Maybe I would make it, but I didn't want to live the rest of my life with nobody but a random fly to talk to every now and then. If being kidnapped meant I could be with my mom again, it didn't sound _too_ horrible.

I glanced around the corner. Standing in the front of the window, staring at the rising sun, was the meanest, toughest looking person I ever saw. My heart sunk almost instantly. He definitely was not one of the bandits that took my mother last night. He was wearing black combat boots, with a leather jacket to match. His pants had about a dozen pockets, no doubt filled with everything he could want to kill me with. I caught the brief glint of his sunglasses, tinted blood red, just like the sun he was staring at. Maybe he was blind. If I was just quiet enough…

"I'm not blind boy." He stated.

I nearly fell through the wall. There was no way he heard me. He hadn't even turned around. Was he talking to himself? I remembered my mother telling me about people who multiple personalities. Schizophrenia?

The man laughed harshly. "I'm not crazy. I'm not talking to the window either. And yes, I know you're here." He turned to look at me peeking around the corner. "Anymore stupid questions you'd like to ask?"

"I… I didn't ask anything?" I sputtered out. This guy radiated power. I didn't know if I should start groveling or beg for mercy.

"No, you didn't _say_ anything." I could feel his eyes roll behind his glasses. "But you were thinking it. Now, are we done with the stupid questions?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Are you going to kill me?"

He grunted, like the thought had occurred to him. "No, plenty of people trying to do that already. I doubt she'll need my help."

If it had been possible, my spirits would've sunk lower. "Fantastic," I mumbled sarcastically. "Just what I needed. More people after me."

"It's your lucky day boy. I'm here to help you."

I stared at him in disbelief, wondering if the world was just that cruel, or if this guy was so arrogant that he thought he was Ruler of the World. I didn't know if I should laugh or shout or yell or scream. Maybe all of the above. "My? Lucky? Day?" I repeated. "Are you serious? I don't even know who you are!"

He gave me a smug look, taking off his sunglasses. "Don't tell me you don't recognize your own father, boy."

I don't know what startled me more. The fact that a guy who I had never seen or heard of told me he was my father, or that he had no eyes. Where they should have been were nothing but flames, like red hot furnaces ready to melt everything in their path.

I just stared at him in shock and horror. If someone had strapped me to a rocket and blasted me into orbit, I wouldn't have noticed.

"My… My father?" I tried to look away, but I kept going back to his eyes. They were deadly, like looking at a forest fire you knew you couldn't outrun.

"Your mother never told you anything, huh?" The guy scratched his chin. "Can't say I'm surprised. She was thick-headed like that. Never listened to anyone. Always did things her way. Respectable, I guess, but stupid."

Anger started to build inside me. "I never met my father," I growled, taking a step forward. My mother was _not_ stupid…

"I see you have her thick skull," he said, annoyed. "Of course we've never met. I don't meddle in my kids business. I let them fight their own battles."

"Then why are you here? Why do you want to help me now? After fifteen years of being a nobody?" I said through clenched teeth.

The fires in his eyes got dangerously brighter. "Careful boy. Just because you're my son doesn't mean I won't blast you into atomic dust." He warned. "Now, I'm only going to say this once, so make sure to get it through the thick head of yours. If you don't get to Camp soon, you're going to get killed off. I give it a month, maybe two at the most."

I snorted. "Is that it? That's all you have to say to me? Are you even going to tell me where to go?"

I've heard the expression 'If looks could kill', which is exactly what it felt like. My father gave me a cold stare, and I suddenly felt like being blown into 'Atomic dust' was an actual threat. It probably wouldn't help much with my beauty image.

"No. The Fates don't let us Gods meddle in the lives of mortals. You have to find your own path, your own way. Though I have a couple, ah, friends to help you. They should be here shortly. Consider it a birthday present."

That comment caught me totally by surprised. I gaped at him. "My birthday?"

He sighed. "Yes, your birthday. It's August 15th." He laughed to himself. "Didn't even know your own birthday. That's a good one."

I sneered at him. "It's not exactly the most important thing on my mind. You'd know that, if you had been around, you worthless piece of garbage!"

My father glared at me, if you can glare at someone without eyeballs. "I will let you off easy this time, punk, because of your mother. A quick word of advice. I wouldn't recommend pushing the buttons of a God who can pummel you into the dirt."

I shook my head, not sure if I heard him right. "A what?"

He gave me a knowing grin. "If you managed to survive tonight, maybe, just maybe, you might see your mother again. Go to Camp like I tell you too. Do what you're supposed to do."

"What?" I stared at him dumbfounded. "None of this makes sense at all. How do you even know any of this? Why should I do anything you tell me?"

"Because I'm the God of War," he said, like _that_ was the most reasonable answer on the planet. "And as I promised, your birthday present."

The back door was blasted in, nearly shattering my eardrums. I dived for the cover of the couch, yanking my hunting knife out of its sheath. Two teenagers strolled in through the smoking remains of the doorway, casually taking in the destruction.

"Jeez, James," one of them said. "That might have been a little overkill."

"Really? I was going to use more. It wasn't as exciting as I hoped." James said. "Maybe I should blow up the front door…"

There was a muffled grunt.

"What?" James defended. "I wasn't actually going to do it, Will."

Will chuckled. "Oh, I'm sure. C'mon, let's search the house. We don't have much time left to find him."

"Time," James mumbled. "We never have enough time."

The two of them moved into the kitchen. I looked up over the couch, wondering if these people were going to try and kill me. My father hadn't moved an inch; he just stood in front of the window still, glaring at the two teenagers who just entered.

"'Bout time you punks show up," the big guy grunted. "Not the best idea to waste a Gods' time."

Both of their heads snapped towards his voice. A mixture of anger and disbelief flashed across their faces.

"Lord Ares," Will greeted my father. He didn't seem pleased about the encounter.

Ares cleared his throat and both of the kids kneeled in the archway.

"Yes, respect," Ares glared pointedly at me. "Respect is always good." He erupted into a column of flames, completely vanishing from the spot, and charring the ceiling.

My brain went on overload. What just happened? This had to be another dream. There was no way this could be real.

"I knew I blew up the door for a reason," James announced, jarring me back to reality. I had no idea whose these two were. I wasn't going to take any chances. Especially not after last night.

"You blew the door up because you wanted too." Will said.

James nodded. "I can't argue with that."

They turned their backs to me. This was my chance. I crouched behind the couch and sprang up, using the back of the couch to launch myself at the tall one on the right. He didn't have time to react. Before either of them knew what was going on, I had the guy pinned on his back, the tip of my blade pressed under his chin. The other scrambled back, tripping over a chair and shattering the kitchen table.

"Who are you?" I shouted into my captives face.

He started to stutter something I couldn't make out. I pressed my knife farther into his neck for emphasis.

"Who are you!"

"Will," he managed. "My name is Will. The other guy is…"

"James," I finished. I realized who they were. The day just kept getting stranger and stranger.

"Uh, yeah," Will said, clearly confused. "How did you know that?"

"A little birdie told me. Why are you here?"

"I… I had a dream. She told me to come here. She told me I had to find a son of Ares."

"Who?" I demanded. "Who told you to come find me?"

"Y… You're the one we're looking for?" He stuttered.

"It doesn't matter who I am," I said. "Now who told you?"

"Hera. Hera sent me here," Will answered. By this time, James had finally found his feet, a sword in his hands.

"Move an inch," I warned him, "and I'll take your friends head off." I turned back to Will. "Now tell me the truth. Who told you to come here?"

"The truth?" James asked, a puzzled look on his face. "You mean, you don't want us to lie to you?"

I dug my knife farther into Wills' chin, drawing a little blood. "Yes, I would prefer it if you _didn't_ lie to me."

"James, shut up," Will told him. "Please. You're not helping."

"Look, I'm telling you the truth," Will continued, trying to scoot away from my knife. "Hera sent me a dream to come find a son of Ares here, in San Francisco. You have to be him. Why else would Ares have been here?"

"You mean that guy who was here?"

"The one who disappeared in a column of fire." James added helpfully. "Ya, that was him. Nice guy once you get to know him. Real people pleaser."

"Ares. As in the Greek God of War Ares?" My grip on Will slackened.

Will studied me carefully. "Yes, the same one. I know it's a lot to take in right now, but it's the truth. I swear. As much as we don't like it at times, we are too. James is a son of Hephaestus. I'm a son of Apollo." I looked at James, whose head could have belonged on a bobble head doll.

I decided they were crazy.

"Will you let me up?" Will asked.

I stayed there for a minute, trying to decide what to do. None of this made any sense. If there were Gods in the world, how could they let the world get so bad? Where had they been this whole time?

"I know you don't have any reason to trust me," Will said. "But we have food. And we're not too far from Camp. We can take you with us. We wouldn't leave you alone out here by yourself. We're willing to help you."

That hit me like a pile of bricks. My stomach rumbled at the thought of food. The bandits had taken my mother. They left me here, even though the one, Bill, knew where I was. I was alone, scared, and hungry.

I got up off Will. It probably wasn't the worst decision I had ever made. It would be a long time before I came to realize just how wrong I really was.

"Thanks," he mumbled, pulling himself up and brushing the dust off. He pulled a cracker out and started munching on it, rubbing his chin. The cut I made healed on its own, turning into a faint scar, which eventually disappeared. If I hadn't made the wound myself, I would never believe it had been there in the first place.

"How did you do that?" I asked, amazed.

"Ambrosia," Will answered. "It's the food of the Gods. In small quantities, it can help us Demigods heal injuries. If you eat too much, it'll literally burn you into ashes from the inside out."

I laughed. "You got to be joking."

"No, I've seen it happen a couple times before." He said it so casually I had a hard time not believing him.

"Trust us, it's not a pretty sight," James agreed.

"A demigod?"

"Half human, half God," James said. "That guy that was here. He was a God."

"What did he say to you?" Will asked.

I looked at him, gauging just how much I should tell him. "He told me he was my father." I figured that much couldn't hurt, could it?

Will just nodded. "I should have figured. You seem like quite the fighter."

James immediately looked to Will. He put his hand up, signaling James to be quiet. "Not now. We need to go. Now, seeing as you're a demigod, you should probably come with us."

"Why should I go anywhere with you?"

"Believe me, you do not want to be out here by yourself." Will said. "Even for a son of Ares. Your natural instincts won't keep you alive very long without any training."

"My 'Natural Instincts'?"

"We all inherit different traits from our parents," James answered. "Like, for me, I'm good with my hands. I can build just about anything. Well, a lot of things at least. Will here is good at medicine, and a crack shot with a bow. Occasionally, he can be sneaky."

Will shot him a look. "It was your idea to blow up the door."

James shrugged. "You went along with it, so don't blame me.:

"I didn't tell you to do it."

"You didn't tell me not to do it either. "

Will shook his head. "Not important right now. We need to leave soon. Won't be long before something catches our scent again." He looked to me. "Are you coming with us or not?"

James looked around. "I don't know Will. Seems like a cozy house to me. Nice décor, except, of course, the whole 'missing back door' thing. Other than that, I like it."

"James, shut up please. So, are you going to come with us or not, kid?"

"Aiden," I said. "My name is Aiden."

Will smiled at me. "So what do you say, Aiden? Would you like to join us?"

"It won't be too boring," James promised.

I glanced down at the hunting knife in my hand, and my book sitting on the kitchen counter. Everything I had left.

"I could go for some food," I admitted.

"Great." James said, half enthused. "A new kid to go on all kinds of adventures with."

"Please," Will said. "I could use a break from all these 'adventures'. Come on Aiden, the other two are just a few houses down. Won't take long." And Will lead the way out of the house. James followed.

I lingered a bit, unsure of what to do. This would be the first time I went somewhere without my mother. What was going to happen to her? What was going to happen to me? I had no idea, so I followed the other two out of the house.

It took only a few minutes to reach where they had set up camp, but it felt much longer to me. Every bush we passed, and every tree we walked by I expected something to jump out at me. For James and Will to turn on me. Or someone worse. But nothing exciting or interesting happened, which was a relief. I didn't know how many more 'interesting' things I could stand to go through today.

We walked into an old, dilapidated house. The door hung crooked on its frame. Most of the windows had been shattered. The paint was so faded you would never be able to guess what color it had been originally. The inside was no better. It looked like everything had been shredded.

I had barely gotten through the door when I girl stood up from the mutilated sofa and started spouting questions. Her blonde hair was in a complete mess. Her clothes were tattered and muddy. She had a splint tied around her arm. The second I walked into the living room, she fixed me with a pair of cold, grey eyes. It wasn't exactly the most friendly look.

"Gabi, please," Will waved her off. "Easy on the questions."

She promptly sat back down on the sofa. "So, this is him?" She asked.

"We'll find out, sooner or later." Will replied.

She did a little 'humph' to herself. "Doesn't look like much. Can't be older than twelve, thirteen at the most. You sure you got the right kid? Isn't the most impressive person I've seen."

"I'm fifteen thank you," I shot back. "And what do you mean doesn't look like much? I doubt I'd have any problems taking you in a fight."

"And isn't very good with others," she sneered. "You sure he is even worth saving?"

Will sighed. "All demigods are worth saving, Gabi."

She looked me over with a critical eye. "If you say so." She didn't sound convinced.

James clapped me on the back. "Don't take it too personally. She hates everyone, don't you, Gabi."

"Shut up James."

James beamed at me. "See? Nothing to worry about. Just your average daughter of Athena."

"Um, thanks?" I said.

"No problem," James said, plopping down in one of the empty chairs.

A kid poked his head over the couch. "Who are you?"

"Aiden," I said, surprised. I hadn't seen him sitting there. "Son of Ares I guess."

He chuckled. "You guess?"

I shrugged. "It's what everyone keeps telling me."

"Ah, I see. Well, I'm Connor, a son of Hermes."

"Your Wills' cousin"

"Ugh, I guess one of them, ya."

"One of them?"

I could see him start to fidget. "Well," he started. "The Gods aren't exactly the most, er, _faithful_ people in the world."

My shoulders slumped. "Why doesn't that surprise me?" I walked over to the wall, collapsing against it.

Connor tried to smile, but it just made things even more awkward. "I can tell you're new to this kind of stuff. You'll never get used to it. Gods know I haven't."

"Fantastic," I said. "Looking forward to it."

"That's the spirit," he said half-heartedly.

It got silent for a long time. Nobody seemed to be in the mood to talk much. I looked over the four of them. Despite being the children of Gods (supposedly) they didn't look any different from just a group of normal teenagers. Connor had scruffy red hair that had zero horns poking out of it. James was a small guy who never really stopped fidgeting with his hands. You could tell Will was related to Connor, as they both had similar facial features. The only real difference was that Will had blonde hair. Gabi was certainly not impressive. Basically, if I hadn't seen the things I had, I would never believe these kids were children of super powerful beings who threatened to blow their kids into Atomic dust.

"James, Gabi," Will broke the silence. "Would you go look for some food? We're going to need more if we want to make it back to Camp. But be careful. Don't want to become lunch."

Gabi jumped up immediately. "You got it," she said excitedly.

James didn't seem so anxious. "Why did I come with you again?" He groaned.

"I remember you volunteering James."

"Really? I don't recall it happening that way."

"Please, just help Gabi."

"Fine," James gave in. "But if we get chased by monsters, I'm tripping you," he told her. Gabi just rolled her eyes and walked out of the house with James right behind her.

The second the two were out of earshot, Will turned to me. "So, do you know where you're from?"

The question hit my heart like a hot dagger. I thought back to last night when my mom had told me about the world before we were forced on the run. It had been less than 12 hours ago, but it had felt like a life-time had already passed.

"Charleston," I finally answered. "North Carolina."

"The East Coast? How did you manage to get all the way to California?"

"My mother led me here. I didn't really know where we were most of the time."

"Your mom? Where is she?"

"She… She was taken by bandits yesterday," I croaked. "She's gone."

"Oh." Will developed an immediate interest in his shoelaces. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

"No, it's fine. It's not your fault. Nothing to apologize for."

He rubbed his chin. "I can see why you were so liberal with your knife."

I managed a small laugh. "My mom always told me better to be safe than sorry."

Will cracked a smile at that. "That's a good lesson."

"Sorry to interrupt this bro-mance going on here," Connor butted in. "But do we actually have a plan? Or are we just flying by the seat of our stunningly unlucky pants?"

"What?" I said, startled. I had forgotten Connor was still here.

"We'll gather as much food as we can, and head out for Camp tomorrow." Will said. "And pretty much take it from there."

"I see we're taking option number two then. Great plan." Connor mumbled.

Will sighed. "Catch up on your sleep Connor. We'll take the splint of later and see how your leg is doing. You too, Aiden. Get some rest. There's a bed upstairs if you want it. I'll keep an eye out for the other two."

I wasn't really tired, but I decided to take the offer anyway. I grabbed my mothers' book. Will tossed me some bread on my way up the stairs. By the time I had gotten to the bedroom, I had devoured it.

I took a spot next to the bedroom window, staring down over the cul-de-sac. It probably had been a nice view at some point. But that had been a long time ago. Most of the houses were rundown and starting to crumble. The roofs had holes in them. Some were missing entire walls. Two of them had already been completely demolished.

I pulled up a chair, kicked open the window, and put my feet up. I put the book on my lap, stroking the cover. Looking at it, I made a vow to myself. Ares had hinted at the fact that my mother was still alive. That she was out there somewhere. No matter what happened, no matter what I had to do, I was going to find my mom. I would do whatever it took to save her.


	5. Chapter 4

It was almost 5 hours before James and Gabi returned. When they came in, James immediately started bragging about how he had single-handedly taken out of pack of… Hellhounds? He also bragged about taking out one of Medusa's sisters with nothing more than a butter knife and a very expensive looking silver plate. I could almost hear Gabi's eyes rolling in their sockets.

Connor seemed even less impressed than Gabi. He said something about how James couldn't even beat a Dracaena with its arms tied behind their back. I could not figure out what they were talking about. A Dra-can-a? Was that something from Outer Space?

I heard footsteps come up the stairs and Will appeared in the doorway. He didn't say anything, just knocked on the door.

"What's up?" I asked.

"James and Gabi are back. There's food if you're hungry. Ravioli. And some more Ravioli." He frowned. "Actually, now that I think about it, there's only Ravioli."

"My favorite."

"Well then you're in for a real treat tonight." He said and headed back downstairs.

I put the book back in a bag I had dug out of the closest, and headed down after Will. Connor was already polishing off his third can and reaching for a fourth. Gabi was staring at the mountain of Ravioli cans with a look of absolute loathing. Will was sitting off to the side, studying a map, while James was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's James?"

"He's outside trying to start a fire." Connor replied with a mouth full of Italian food.

"Never going to get anywhere." Gabi said with contempt.

"I'm sure he can start a fire just fine." James wasn't kidding about her, I thought.

Connor starting laughing, spraying mashed up Ravioli everywhere. Gabi just rolled her eyes.

Will looked up from his map. "This would make attempt number seventeen since we left camp. He got close on twelve, little smoke, but otherwise he has yet to start one."

"Some people cannot fly. Some people cannot swim," Gabi flashed Will a look, but he didn't notice. He was back to staring at his map. Connor did his best to cover up a snort, but Gabi noticed. She didn't like it. "And some people cannot start fires. James, for instance, is one of those people."

"I'll see if I can go help him." Gabi was setting up to become one of my least favorite people.

"I don't think there is any helping him." Connor said, and started on can number five.

I walked to the back door and stared at the yard. James was set up in the middle of a very bland patch of grass. Other than what was left of the backyard fence, there was no decoration, just dead and dying grass everywhere. James was bent over a clump of broken fence boards, angrily spinning the wood in his hands, trying to start a fire. I walked up next to him. He was never going to start a fire that way. At least not today.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to start a fire. You know, it's not fair. Leo can just summon fire, and I can barely make the thing smoke." He put down the wood. "Got any tips?" He gestured to the pile of fence in front of him.

"Start with the small stuff. You have to build up to the bigger pieces."

"Small stuff? You mean like smaller pieces of wood?"

"No. Stuff like leaves, grass, paper. Stuff that'll light up right away." I started pulling up the dead grass, piling it underneath the wood. "When you get a good pile, light it. If you got it right, your logs will catch just fine. Then build up from there."

"Thanks for the help."

"Ya, no problem. Now, if you can get some Flint and Steel, the fire should start up just fine on its' own." There a few footsteps behind me.

"Here, use mine." Connor was standing over us, Flint and Steel in his hands. James grabbed it happily and muttered something. Probably a thanks. It could've been an 'I love you'. He struck them, and in no time, he had a fire. He moved back a couple feet and stared at the fire like it was the most wonderful thing in the world.

"Success!" he yelled gleefully. "Now I can finally cook my Ravioli." He ran back inside.

I looked at Connor. "So, who's Leo?"

He sat down next to me, and I noticed he wasn't wearing his splint anymore.

"He's James brother. Son of Hephaestus. He has the ability to summon fire and is probably the best builder at camp. James kinda looks up to him as his hero."

"Wait, what? He can summon fire?"

The look on my face must have been pretty good because Connor broke open a huge smile. "Ya. Some special ability his dad gave him."

"So he can summon fire?" I was sure I didn't hear him right.

"Yes."

"You're serious?"

"Completely."

"Just out of thin air?"

"Sure can."

"Cool brother." I wonder if the Ares kids have any special powers. Can we summon swords? Maybe a really big gun?

Connor stared at the fire. "I guess so."

I started flexing my fingers. I wonder what cool powers Ares kids had. It wasn't long before I realized I was doing much more than exercising my fingers. My head drooped in disappointment.

"You seem to be taking it well," Connor said.

"What?" I looked up from my hand, not having any luck doing a lot of anything.

"Being a demigod," he clarified. "You seem to be taking it well."

"Oh," I said. I didn't really know what to think of it. My father was apparently a god. How was I supposed to take that? "I don't know. I'm still hoping it's all just a really, really messed up dream."

Connor laughed. "I don't blame you. I've meet people who never believe it. They refuse to accept it or just think we're crazy. Never see them again. Kind of sad, really."

"Well, it's not every day you see a guy erupt into fire. I still don't know what to make of _that_." If the ceiling hand't been charred, I probably never would have believed what I saw.

"Trust me, you're going to see weirder things. I still don't know what to make of some of the things I saw." Connor shuddered. He turned towards the back door. "Speaking of weird..."

James ran back out, a can in each hand. "Prepare for the feast of your life guys." And he threw the cans on the fire.

"What are you doing?" Connor asked.

"Cooking dinner." James gave him a quizzical look. "Why?"

"Just… Never seen Ravioli cooked that way before. I'll be inside." With that, he got up and left.

"I think I'll go inside too. I really don't want to be wearing spaghetti on my clothes." I said.

"Ravioli," James corrected. "Its' ravioli man."

"Sorry, ravioli," I said and I followed Connor inside.

I went in and grabbed a can of food. Will handed me a can opener and I popped off the lid. It was ok, not the best Italian food I ever had. I had just tossed the can into the next room with the rest of the empty ones when I heard a loud POP! It was followed a couple seconds later by a second one.

"What was that?" Will asked, startled.

"I think I have an idea," said Connor.

Will gave him a confused look. James materialized in the doorway, a crazy grin on his face. Red sauce completely splattered his clothes, and a ravioli piece was stuck to his cheek.

"Knew it," Connor grumbled.

"Dinner is ready," James announced.

"Thanks, but I already ate," I said.

"Are you sure? It's fresh," he said, disappointment in his voice.

"I'm sure."

"How about you guys? Any of you want some?"

The others all mumbled no and James went back outside. He came back about a minute later, a can of ravioli in his hands. "Suit yourself."

He ate his ravioli in silence. Nobody else in the group said anything. Will continued to stare at his map, Gabi stared at the ceiling, and Connor kept eyeing the remaining cans of ravioli. James threw his empty can in the backyard and walked into the next room. A couple seconds later there was a crash as James dropped himself onto the couch. He started snoring a few minutes later.

"Well, I'm going to go take my cat nap. See you guys in the morning." Connor announced, and joined James in the next room. I told Will I was going to sleep and headed to the bedroom. Gabi actually smiled at that. Go figure.

I walked upstairs into the bedroom, grabbed a blanket out of the closest, and got comfortable on the king sized mattress. I stared out the window at the night sky. My mom used to comment that the sky was so much clearer than when she was a kid. You could actually see the stars now. I never really cared for them, but she loved staring at the night sky.

I rolled over and tried to think of something else. Something that wouldn't make me cry like a little girl. I thought of the book we would always read. Who would have guessed that Greek Gods were alive. I still hoping that I would wake up tomorrow morning and all of it would have just been a bad dream. My mom would be making breakfast. I would roll out of bed, complaining about how they only thing I wanted to do was to go back to sleep. She would make fun of me for being a slouch, and we would eat our breakfast. Together. Everything would be normal.

Will walked into the room an hour or so later. "There's room for two on the bed. Just no cuddling. I'm not into that kind of stuff." I remarked.

He chuckled a little. "It's fine Aiden. I'm not either. I was actually going to sneak out your window to keep watch."

"James was right. You're no good at being sneaky." I commented.

"Go to sleep. I'll wake you up when it's your turn." He climbed out the window onto the roof.

I tried to fall asleep, but the thought of Gods being real kept me awake. Super powerful beings having kids with regular people. Needless to say, my headache was just getting worse. I decided I needed some fresh air. I got up, walked to the window, and joined Will outside.

"Can't sleep?" he asked rhetorically.

"How can you sleep?" I asked. "My brain just won't stop running."

"After a while you'll get used to it," he answered. "Before you know it, you'll be asleep before your head hits the pillow."

"I have to admit," I said. "That actually sounds kinda nice."

Will shook his head at my comment. "Believe me, it is not a nice thing. It's only going to get worse from here on out."

"I seriously doubt that." I mumbled. "How could it get worse?"

Pain raced across Will expression. "I used to say that too," he sighed. "Back during the Titan War, I used to look around and think 'How can things be worse? People are dying every day. My friends and siblings are risking their lives for a world that doesn't even know they exist.' And after it was over, nothing was the same. You'd turn the corner expecting to see an old friend, only to remember that they had been killed. There would be no more memories with them."

"But now," Will gestured to everything in front of us, the broken road, the destroyed houses. "I know that things can always get worse. It's the one thing I've learned over the last few years. One moment you think you've hit rock bottom and you start pulling yourself up, only to swept off your feet again. But this time, you realize that you don't even know what rock bottom is anymore. And it keeps happening, over and over again. You pick yourself up and get knocked flat."

My spirits plummeted. "You're not the best sales person in the world, are you?"

Will gave a short laugh. "No, I guess I'm not. But I'm not going to lie to you Aiden." He paused, trying to find his words. "I... We're still fighting, barely. A lot of us have died. The rest of us will probably die soon enough." He put his head in his hands.

I stared out across the night, not sure what to think. My mother had said something very similar last night, just before she was taken. "He will die fighting for you!" She had screamed. "You will send him to his grave!" Will had nearly echoed her. It seemed they both agreed on the same thing. Only pain and suffering was left at the end of the world. There were no more happy endings to be had.

"I have watched friend after friend die," Will grumbled miserably. "And you sit there every time, wondering if it's worth it. Wondering what the point is. Why do I keep fighting when I already know what's going to happen?"

I stared at him in disbelief. He seriously wasn't expecting me to answer that, was he? I had a real hard time relating to what he was saying. All I had ever known was this world. I wasn't old enough to remember what it was like before. And I hadn't even seen this war he was talking about. It was a trick question for sure.

"So, why do you keep fighting?" I asked finally, deciding that was my best hope at not getting poked repeatedly by Wills' sword. The guy looked ready to break apart.

Will lifted his head up. "Because maybe, just maybe, there's a chance we can make things better. Maybe things can always get worse, but they can get better as well. Because I don't want to believe all my friends died for nothing." He sighed unhappily. "The world is in ruins. Would you want it to stay that way? Forever? Never do anything about it? Or would you fight to help make the world a better place again, even if you knew there was hardly a chance?"

I looked at him. "I feel like that is an obvious answer."

Will grunted. "Maybe, to most people. But certainly not all of them." He looked at me, and I seriously hoped he could not read minds.

"Is this why you were looking for me? Trying to get another recruit to help you fight?"

"I came looking for you because the Queen of Olympus told me too," Will replied. "You don't ignore something like that unless you _want_ to become a shrew. Though I can't say the idea didn't cross my mind." He noticed the glare I was giving him. "But even if Hera hadn't sent me out here, I still would've come looking for you." He added quickly.

I sat up, surprised. "What? Why? Why would you go looking for someone you don't even know?"

Will shrugged. "If I knew you were out here, and if I could find you, I'd try my best to help. It wouldn't be right, leaving someone out here at the mercy of whatever monsters were trailing them. They wouldn't even stand a chance without some kind of training. Taking them back to Camp would at least give them a fighting chance. It's up to them what they do with it afterwards. But at least I did what I could to help them."

I tried to not look too shocked. Will had said a lot of things tonight, but that one had hit me in the face with a full on sucker punch. I had a nagging feeling that I would not have done the same if I was him. If it was someone I cared about, definitely. I had every intention of going after my mom when I had enough supplies. But for a complete stranger? Someone that had no value to me? It was doubtful I would risk anything for them. I would certainly not risk my life so I could offer them even a little bit of help.

I felt guilty almost immediately. Was it fair for me to condemn someone who I didn't even know? Life wasn't fair, I told myself. Lots of people had gotten the shaft. Was it fair for them to expect help from others who were just trying to survive themselves? Maybe not. But I did know one thing. The world was far from fair.

"Since you're wondering," Will guessed, reading my conflicted expression. "I'll tell you what Hera told me."

"What?" I asked, confused. It took me a second to figure out what he said. "Oh, uh, sure." I stammered. That's not what I had been thinking about at all.

"She sent me a dream," he recounted. "She told me to go look for a demigod. A son of Ares, down here in San Francisco. And he was supposed to be the key to unlocking our victory."

"Oh, is that it?" I rolled my eyes as hard as I could, hoping that Hera, in all her godliness, could see it. "That doesn't even make any sense."

A smile tugged at Wills' face. "The Gods are never straight-forward with their answers. You'll find that out sooner or later."

"I for one am hoping that it's later. I'm not any good at puzzles, or riddles. Impossible for me to figure out." I said.

"It'll make sense eventually. Usually because whatever 'it' was, just happened."

I thought it over. "I'm supposed to be a key?" I mused.

"Ya, whatever that means," Will said halfheartedly.

"Wait a second." I perked up. "I think I got it. Of course!"

Will was instantly focused. "What is it? You know what she is talking about?"

"I'm going insane," I explained. "It would explain everything that happened today. It has to be it. Makes too much sense."

"Oh," he said, and I couldn't tell if he wanted to laugh or cry. Probably both.

"Sorry," I said. "Didn't mean to get your hopes up or anything. Just, couldn't resist that one."

He chuckled. "No, it's fine. That was a good one. Definitely had me going there for a second."

"Oh, good. I didn't want to think we were going to get off on the wrong foot."

Will tensed suddenly, putting a hand on his sword hilt.

"Uh... Did, did we get off on the wrong foot?" I scooted back, not wanting to be on the receiving end of that sword. I didn't need to know how sharp it was.

Will immediately clamped his hand over my mouth. "Shh. Be quiet!"

"Uhhh, kay?" I tried mumbling through his fingers.

He got up silently and put a finger to his lips. "Quietly as possible, go wake the others." He ordered.

"What is it?" I whispered. I squinted out across the neighborhood, trying to find whatever he was looking at. I couldn't see a single thing in the gloomy night.

"On the right." He peered across the darkness. "Just across the intersection. I thought I saw..."

I focused on the spot he was talking about. I couldn't be sure, but I thought I saw a shadow move. Maybe an animal or something.

"Inside. Get inside now." He hurriedly pushed me towards the open window. "Wake the others. Quickly!"

"What?" I demanded. "What is it?"

"It's a Drakon," he answered.

"I'm assuming that's not a good thing," I muttered. I stood there for a second, trying to make out whatever the shadow was. It was certainly _big_.

"No, it's not. Not at all," he said, and jumped down into the front yard, hardly making a sound.

"Show off," I grunted, and climbed in the house.


	6. Chapter 5

As it turns out, the others didn't seem too surprised by the fact that a 50 foot long serpent was here to eat us. In fact, I got the feeling from them that this was what happened on a regular basis. I didn't really like it. I was hoping that being a demigod was going to be as good as it sounded in the stories. I mean, you're half-god, with cool powers and stuff, but it was starting to seem like the cons outweighed the pros.

Gabi and Connor started gathering all of their supplies. I followed James out onto the front porch, who was pretty calm considering the circumstances.

Will was standing in the middle of the yard, watching as the serpent flicked its snaky tongue at the house in front of it. The house must have smelled pretty bad, because the snake flattened it with one swipe of its tail. It started towards the next house.

"I think it's blind," Will whispered. "So try to stay quiet. We might be able to get around without a fight."

"If it is blind, we should just swarm it," James mumbled. "Take it by surprise."

"Why don't we just go out the back?" I asked.

The drakon swatted the next house.

"What?"

"Let's go out the back."

Will and James looked at each other and I couldn't tell which one of them was more dumbfounded.

"The back…" Will stuttered.

"I love this kid." James declared as he slapped me on the back. "Always full of bright ideas."

We sneaked back in the house, grabbing the rest of our stuff. I followed the rest of them out the back. Connor ran up the house behind ours and busted open the door. James walked in behind him, wiggling the doorknob.

"Dude, it was unlocked."

Connor just shrugged and made his way to the front yard. Gabi and James followed him. I turned to see if Will needed a hand when the house next to our old camp exploded. Shards off wood and glass rained down around the yard. A microwave landed in the middle of the grass and was crushed a second later by the oven. The refrigerator took out what was left of the fence. I scampered as fast as I could into the safety of the house and Will was right on my heels.

"Stay silent," he warned. "They have extremely good hearing. Hopefully it won't be able to smell us."

"Smell us?"

"Shhh." Was all he said.

I peered out of the window. The drakon was in front of our old camp, its tongue flickering for a scent of dinner. Its row of razor sharp teeth glinted in the moonlight, and its armor scrapped across the pavement like a thousand knives. Where its' eyes should have been were two milky white orbs and it looked like it was staring into oblivion. I was frozen to the spot in fear.

Will was doing a little better. He started tapping me shoulder until I looked at him, and gestured for me to follow him through the house. We were crawling through the living room when I heard our old house being demolished. I looked back to see it flattened like a deck of cards. We made it outside and joined the others in the street.

"Well, that was a close one," commented Connor.

"That was way too close for me."

"Eh, you'll get used to it sooner or later, Aiden. At least we didn't have to fight the thing." Connor adjusted his backpack. "So, what now?"

Will started rummaging through his pack. "We'll head for camp. But we need to get out of here before that snake realizes we're here."

Nobody could think of a better plan. James offered to go fight the giant snake for us and cook some hotdogs afterwards, but no one was in the group was hungry. Will started off down the street and we followed.

We walked for what seemed like forever. Every now and then you could hear another house in the distance get pulverized, but otherwise everything was quiet. Even the crickets seemed to have taken the night off. Will walked off by himself in front of the group. Gabi was talking to Connor who seemed agitated by something. Every now and then he would wave his hands around, like he was trying to build an invisible model of something. James dropped back next to me and pulled something out of his bag.

"Here," he handed me a sword. It was about 3 feet long and made of some kind of glowing metal. It was faint, but it was definitely glowing. "Made it myself."

"You made this?" I asked amazed. "Why is it glowing?"

"It's made of Celestial Bronze. The metal of the Gods, mined from Mount Olympus itself. It's good for cutting through monsters, armor, and that triple decker sub sandwich. That knife you pulled on Will won't work against Monsters. Just pass right through them. Only Celestial Bronze can hurt them. Imperial Gold can too, I guess."

"Celestial Bronze is Greek? And Imperial Gold is Roman?"

"Ya," James sounded impressed. "How did you know that?"

"My mom told me the difference a long time ago. I barely listened to her then. Turns out she knew what she was talking about."

He started laughing at that. "Ya, I didn't believe a single word my mom said about any of it. Then I met my first hellhound. You could say I converted after that."

"I kinda wished I listened to her a bit more now."

"Ya," James sighed sadly, staring out across the night. "Me too."

We walked in silence after that. Will seemed to know where we were going, which was good, because I was hopelessly lost. After the first few turns, I gave up trying to keep track of where we were. If I couldn't figure out what part of the country we were in, I seriously doubted my ability to navigate the neighborhood. Will walked on confidently. Gabi had stopped talking to Connor and was slowing down, waiting for me to catch up with her. James flashed me a sympathetic look and ran to catch up with Will.

"So I see James gave you one of his swords," she said.

"Um ya. What about it?" I said defensively.

"There's no need to be edgy. I was just trying to start a conversation."

"Ok…"

"So, have you ever actually used a sword?" she asked.

"Um, no."

"Well this is certainly a first. A son of Ares who doesn't know how to use a sword. You're just full of surprises aren't you?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, nothing. But, if you want to practice a little swordplay, I guess I could give you a few lessons. Will is the best out of all of us, but I'm sure I can still hand you your butt on a silver platter. That is, if you're ok getting beat by a girl." She smirked

"I think I'll be able to handle myself." I said

"Great! Next time we make camp, I'll see if I can teach you some things." The way she said it made it sound like she thought that was highly unlikely.

"And if I beat you?"

"You won't. But that's ok." And she went back to talking to Connor again. I was seriously not liking this daughter of Athena. I would make sure to crush her when I got the chance.

We turned a corner and I could see the edge of the neighborhood in front of us. A small wall made of red brick rose out the ground about six feet, and two extremely bent steel gates hung from their hinges. They might as well take out the gates, because they didn't even come close to meeting. You could drive a truck through them and not even scratch the paint.

Will stopped about a hundred feet short of the exit. He raised his fist, signaling for us to stop, and started looking around for something. It was then that I realized it was eerily quiet. Almost too quiet. The constant pounding of houses had stopped. We had walked a few miles at least. I doubted we would even hear it if it flattened a nuclear power plant.

I was about to suggest it was nothing when the house next to us exploded, revealing a very ugly, very mean looking drakon. It started musing through the wreckage, looking for something. Its forked tongue flicked in and out, and I was sure it could smell us.

"Don't. Move." Will said, his voice steely. "It hasn't spotted us yet."

"Hasn't spotted us yet? Are you crazy?" Gabi whispered, panic coloring her voice.

"Just stay still." Will said, and I was impressed by his nerves. His voice didn't even quiver. I couldn't stop my knees from shaking and Gabi was starting to hyperventilate. I guess surprise attacks from giant snakes can do that to you.

It turned out Will was right. The drakon had yet to look at us. It kept scanning the street, flicking its forked tongue, before it moved over to the next house.

"Alright, move as quietly as possible. Try not to make too much noise." Will started toward the gates silently.

We were almost there when I felt the serpents' mood shift. Maybe it decided it was hungry or that demolishing the neighborhood had lost its appeal. Whatever it was, the beast looked straight at us.

"Scatter!" James yelled as the snake lunged forward, biting a car sized hole out of the spot we were standing at. I ducked into the house on my right and James materialized in the doorway behind me.

"Duck!" I yelled and pulled James down as the serpent swung it head across our house, taking out the front porch pillars. I pulled myself up and started for the back of the house. James followed me as I ran up the stairs.

"Now would be a good time for one of your brilliant ideas." He looked out the window. "Got any?"

"No! I didn't exactly plan on getting attack by a giant snake," I yelled back and pulled my new sword out of its' sheath. Will was in the middle of the street, banging his sword on his shield, trying to get the serpents' attention. I saw the snake start to coil and I knew Will was a doomed demigod. It lunged. I pictured a message on his gravestone: Here lies Will. Killed by giant, angry snake, 2022. The drakon buried its face into the asphalt and I saw Will roll up along its side and try to stab it through chinks in its armor.

Connor appeared at the end of the snake body and tried to hack of its' tail, but no matter how much he and Will stabbed, the snake didn't seem to get hurt. If anything, it just pissed the snake off even more.

"Guys," Gabi yelled from one of the houses across the street. "The snake. It's an adolescent."

"That's great. Real helpful, Gabi." James yelled back.

"No. You don't understand. It's not poisonous."

"What does that have to do with anything? It is still trying to EAT US!" The veins in James face started to pop out of his skin, which probably wasn't healthy, but her information gave me an idea. I crawled out the window onto the porch roof.

"Aiden, what are you doing?" James asked. He seemed to have controlled his anger a little bit, but his face still looked like a ripe tomato.

"I got an idea."

"Is it a brilliant idea?" He got a hopeful look.

"No," I said truthfully. "Probably not. Hand me that board over there." I pointed to a piece of wood, about two feet long. James scrambled over to it and handed it to me.

"You're not doing what I think you're doing."

"Probably." I started banging the wood against the side of the house to get the snake's attention.

"That's not a brilliant idea. You're going to die. We don't want to give Gabi something to smile about."

"Just shut up." The snake turned its head in my direction. I stared into its' milky eyes. I realized something. It _could_ see. Just not very good. Maybe this plan would work after all. The drakon slithered toward me and got ready to strike, but before it could, I jumped.

"Aiden, no!" yelled Will, but it was too late. The serpent looked at me almost with smug disbelief as it opened its mouth to swallow me whole. I positioned the board and wedged it between its' jaws. The snake bit down. The wood held for only a second before it splintered under the pressure, but it was just enough time for me to slip past its rows of razor sharp teeth into its' throat. This guy seriously need an Orbit.

Now I don't recommend doing this if you're scared off tight spaces, hate really bad smells, or don't like the thought of being potentially eaten. It was like going down a really slow, really slimy, really stinky water slide. I could feel it as its throat muscles pushed me farther into the darkness. I had a few seconds to think that maybe this wasn't the best idea. I had no idea what the anatomy of a snake was. What if its heart came after its stomach? I could imagine some of the words my mom would start yelling at me, which I won't repeat to you, but they would've been pretty bad. I felt the snake lung, and I hoped that my party of one wasn't about to double.

I was on the verge of panicking when I heard the familiar THUMP THUMP. I waited until I was sure I was directly below it, and stabbed. The blade sunk into the tissue up to the hilt. The serpent started hissing in pain. Being inside it was pretty weird; I could feel the snake vibrating as it screamed.

Blood poured into my tiny space. I thought this would be a pretty stupid way to die, drowning inside a snake. Maybe I could win Odd Death of the Century. Liquid flowed all around me and I tried to cover my nose and mouth, but a couple drops slipped in. I won't tell you what it tasted like. You don't want to know. I was sure I was going to die when the snake started dissolving into powder around me, and before I knew it I was laying against the asphalt, staring up into the armored husk of a dead snake. Will rushed over and pulled me up onto the grass.

"What in the Hades were you thinking," he muttered to himself.

"Isn't that how Hercules killed it?" I muttered, spitting out snake blood.

Will didn't even try to answer that one, which was an answer in itself. He pulled out a square cracker, Ambrosia, and tried shoving it in my mouth. I spit it out, along with a lot of snake blood. "Eat it," he scolded. "It'll make you feel better."

"What does it taste like?" I asked.

"I don't know. The taste is different for every person."

"What about the whole burning to ashes thing?"

"You'll be fine, it's a small amount." He handed me another piece of God food, and I nibbled on it. The second I swallowed it I felt amazing, like someone had injected a syringe of caffeine straight into my system. I had never felt better.

"That stuff is amazing," I cried. "What's in it?"

"I have no idea. Can you walk?"

"I feel like I could run a marathon." By this time, the rest of the gang was gathered around, eyeing me cautiously. Gabi had a look of disdain on her, but that was to be expected. I was still alive. "He's fine," she snorted. She got up and walked away, clutching her side.

"Dude!" James started excitedly. "That. Was. Awesome! You have to tell me your secret. Do you work out? Some sort of super-secret power? Maybe there was something in that ravioli…" He started to pull a couple cans out of his backpack.

Connor elbowed me in the ribs. "You saved her life. She might not forgive you for that."

"So what else is new?" James and Connor started laughing, and even Will managed to break a smile.

He quickly regained his composure. "We should keep going. We got a long journey back to camp."

"How long?" I asked.

"Three days, at least. At least we have plenty of ravioli." James popped to his feet, pulling me up with him. "I have a feeling by the time we reach Camp, we're going to be best friends." James smiled and started skipping towards the gates, grabbing my arm and dragging me behind him.

"I think he's been off his meds for a little _too _long," Connor muttered to Will.

"Wouldn't surprise me," he replied, and they shared a laugh. I had a hard time suppressing a smile. "Come on," Will continued. "Let's get going."


	7. Chapter 6

Will tried to teach me about the Mythological world that day. Like how Mount Olympus has shifted from country to country, or the monsters that would try to kill us. I would like to say that I was a pretty good learner. It also helped we were attacked by the same monsters he was trying to teach me about. Let me tell you, there is nothing better than a hands-on, life-or-death learning approach. James tried to keep the groups spirits up, but he soon became annoying most of the time. Gabi kept her promise to teach my swordplay.

"Let's go," she said and threw my sword on the ground next to me.

"You're not serious are you?" I asked. "What about your side?"

"I'm dead serious." She started towards an opening next to our camp.

"Can we take a break? First I kill a drakon at like 2 in the morning. And then we get attacked by a pack of snake women less than 4 hours later. Can I have a nap at least? Or dinner?"

She ignored me and took her spot on the opposite side of the clearing.

"No rest for the wicked," James said and handed me a can of Ravioli.

"I guess not." I was about to open it when I heard footsteps pounding towards me. I turned to see Gabi less than ten feet away from me, running at a dead sprint with her sword raised. I dropped the can and started scrambling for my sword. When I finally grabbed it and looked up, Gabi was right next to me. I rolled out of the way as she cleaved the log I was sitting on in two.

"Are you trying to kill me?!" I yelled

"I'm trying to teach you." She replied.

"How are you going to do that if I'm dead?"

"If I don't teach you anything, you will be dead." She swiped across my midsection and I danced back, tripping over Connor.

"She is going easy on you." He spooned another Ravioli into his mouth.

"Easy? You have got to be kidding."

"Don't get beat by a girl dude."

Gabi took another swing at my head and I raised my sword up to block it. She was pretty strong for her small size. I thought I was starting to get the hang of this when she smiled at me and kicked me in the shin. I lost the strength in my arm and her sword slid off the edge, nearly slicing my ear off. After that, she didn't go so easily on me. Her sword was like a blur of gold, and it was all I could do not to get sliced up like a ham. I blocked some of her strikes. But most of the time I just jumped back and tried to stay out of the way. She started to anticipate it though, and by the end of the night I was a painting of black and blue. She would turn her sword at the last moment and smack me with the flat of her blade. Every time she did she would mutter "Dead." By the time she finished 'teaching' me, I must've died at least 50 times.

I dragged myself back to my sliced up chair and sat down. James did his best to try and cheer me up, but I couldn't hear him through all the pain. I just fell back onto the ground, stared at the stars, tried to focus on some part of my body that didn't hurt. The fire crackled as Will threw on another piece of wood. A few minutes later I started to doze off. I was half asleep when I heard Gabi squeeze herself between Connor and Will.

"That seemed a little unnecessary," said Connor.

"He will be fine in the morning," she muttered.

"Are you sure? He looks horrible to me," he said. "What was your deal? You seem to have an extra dosing of hate for that kid. Even more than that one kid from the Aphrodite cabin." He elbowed her playfully.

"Do not even bring up his name," she hissed. "You know how much I hate that kid. And he isn't even half as bad as you are."

"You know I'm a good guy…" Connor started

"Yet you don't turn that kid into one giant bruise," Will cut in. "Why did you beat the crap out of Aiden?"

"He is a big boy. I think he can handle it," she said.

"I'm sure he can handle it. I mean, he did get eaten earlier," Connor put in.

"Oh man, that was great!" James exclaimed. "That was the coolest thing I've seen in my life. It was even better than when Will took out the Hydra single-handedly."

"It was a single basilisk. I don't know where the Hydra came in." Will corrected. "But you still haven't told us why you decided to beat up on Aiden."

"He is going to need it for where he is going," she defended.

"Where he is going? What are you talking about?" James asked, clearly confused.

Gabi looked at Will. "You know what I'm talking about. And it is always a one way trip." She got up and walked over to her bed roll, grabbing her pack on the way. She tossed it on the ground, using it as a pillow, and went to bed.

"What is she talking about?" James demanded. "What do you know?"

"Not here, James. Not now," Will replied, eyeing the darkness at the edge of camp.

"It has something to do with the rumors, doesn't it," Connor said. "He is back, isn't he? He's down there, that's why they never came back. That's why they failed."

"Who is down there? Down where?" James voice was starting to rattle now.

"I said not now," Will scolded. "Now get some sleep. We need to start early tomorrow."

"Need to start early," grumbled James. "We need to find a way to end this war."

The night seemed a little darker after they stopped talking. The fire was colder. Whatever they were talking about, I didn't like it. Actually, I hated it. It sounded like wherever they were sending me, they expected me to die. These were turning into some great friends.

I decided when I got to camp, I would figure out where those bandits were holding my mom, and then I was gone. I would never see any of these people again. It would just be my mom and I on the road again. I would be happy just knowing she was safe with me. Maybe it wasn't the greatest life, but it was better than becoming another casualty in someone else's war.

I tried to fall asleep, but I kept tossing and turning. Every part of my body felt like I was getting hit with a hammer over and over again. Even my toes were throbbing. I pulled out some nectar Will had given me and took a small sip. The taste was divine. It tasted like the Chinese tea my mother used to make for me, mixed together with all the sugar. I took another sip. Before I knew it, the entire thing was gone. I felt very feverish, but at least my body didn't hurt anymore. I dozed off staring at the remnants of the fire slowly die.

My dreams didn't do anything to help improve my mood. It would have been nice to dream of a five course meal, with everything but Ravioli. I would've even been happy with a dream about swimming with mermaids. But what I got was much, much worse.

I was standing on top of a hill I didn't recognize. In front of me was an endless expanse of sand, and every now and then, a small, depressing looking tree would pop into the landscape. A strange glow was stretched out across the horizon, making it look like the place was on fire just beyond my vision. I looked up, hoping to some stars I recognized, I could figure out what part of the world I was in. But there was nothing except blackness. It almost seemed like I was in the biggest cave in the world. I couldn't see the roof of the place, but I knew it was there. And the air. The air was the worst. It felt like it was biting at my skin. Something pure evil lived in this place. I could fell its' anger and hate permeate everything in this bleak landscape.

Behind me rose a double walled castle, under construction, complete with a ditch surrounding it. The palace it protected was completed, it dark red walls standing out against the black landscape. I could feel it pulling at my dream self and I let myself drift towards it. If I saw something I didn't like, I could always wake myself up. I hoped anyways.

As I got closer to the complex, I could see pictures and scenes carved into to the walls. One had a giant, humanoid looking figure with his foot raised, about to stomp on a small village. The artist even carved in the citizens, running and screaming in terror, as their livelihoods were about to be squashed.

Another scene was undoubtedly the Empire State Building. I recognized it from the pictures. But unlike in the pictures I saw, this building had been sliced in half, with the top of it lying upside down, half sunk in the Hudson River. Or was it the East? The bottom half that was still standing looked like it had been crumpled by a giant fist. The rest of Manhattan looked like it had been torn apart, brick by brick.

There were a lot of other scenes of death and destruction, including a very detailed scene of a man ripping apart a Chimera. (Will taught me that if I ever saw one, run.) Another scene showed a massive army closing in on a small ring of teenagers at the base of a building. The man in front of the army wasn't much older than a teenager, but his face showed the thousands of years of hate he had. I also learned one more thing as I gazed at the decoration. I couldn't wake myself up. I tried. Very hard.

Whatever was pulling at me finally got itself to yank me through the wall, which kind of freaked me out, but I was relieved. I couldn't stand those pictures anymore. I stopped in the center of the palace. It was beautifully built in a creepy way. All the carvings of even more death were done with much more skill than the ones outside. I tried my hardest not to look at them. Everything was painted red, even the Greek columns that soared up to the roof 30 feet above. I started to look around, hoping to see something other than those awful scenes.

What I saw was even worse, I just didn't know it yet. A throne sat in the very back of the room, raised up off the ground a foot or two. A man in golden armor sat in the throne, clutching the armrests. Frost seemed to crawl from him, slowly covering the chair. He got up and the frost disappeared, but everywhere he walked, frost grew around his foot. And he was walking around a lot. It was clear he was extremely mad.

Another man walked in and kneeled in the middle of the room. Scratches and scars covered his face and neck, and I assumed they covered most of his body. It looked like he had been attacked by a herd of very angry hamsters. He didn't speak or give any indication of why he was here, which seemed smart. I wanted to run away from the extremely creepy and mad frost man, but it seemed I was tied to the place.

The king finally spoke, after a few agonizing and very scary minutes. The man in the middle continued kneeling. I didn't understand how he could do that for so long. Must have had a lot of practice.

"You want to know something brother?" the king asked.

"What is on your mind?" The man stood up. He didn't look nearly as terrified as he should have been. Or I was.

"Do you know why I am stuck here? Why I cannot leave this place?" The king got angrier with every word he spoke.

"I figured you liked the view. You always did like suffering."

"Do not antagonize me, Prometheus." He warned. "I am here because of our _blessed _mother," he spat. Now I'm no expert at facial expression, but I had a feeling this guy was not a mama's boy.

"Our mother?" Prometheus asked innocently.

"Yes. She recalled back my spirit from the Abyss, piece by piece." Prometheus rolled his eyes. I had a feeling he had heard this story before. "But she left one piece. The most important. She has yet to give it back to me. I know she has it." The king became very quiet.

"I am sure she has a reason for not giving back your immortal spirit. Mother always has a plan."

The king didn't speak for a while. The man on the floor started to shift his feet. I was feeling nervous. I couldn't die in my own dream, could I? This golden guy seemed like he was planning to murder someone.

When the king finally spoke, it was with a barely controlled rage. "I have a feeling that plan does not involve me. She is giving the world to that other son of hers, the green giant. A world that is rightfully mine. It was my birthright, and it will be again. The Giant and his brothers will not stand in our way!" He turned and punched the wall. I figured he would break his hand, but he broke the wall. Like, the entire wall. It exploded with the force of dynamite, revealing the baths in the next room and some very surprised looking monsters. Prometheus started scrambling for the exit, something I wish I could have done. If I knew one thing, it was that I never wanted to meet this king in person.

"I have not given you permission to leave yet." The Golden Man said. "I have one more question. Have they finished with the… project yet?"

"No, my lord. The telkhines are still working on it."

"How much longer?"

"It should be done by the end of the month. Anything else?"

"I want it done by the end of the week. You are dismissed. And fix this wall." He ordered. He went and sat back at his throne, covering it once more in frost. He looked at me, murder in his eyes. I didn't know if he could see me, but I prayed to every God that I knew of that he couldn't.

"Yes, my Lord Kronos." Prometheus bowed and left the room, and my dream dissolved.

I woke up shortly after dawn. The Sun was blood red, barely touching the horizon. Will had gotten up and was packing his stuff for the journey. James and Connor were still asleep. James was drooling like no tomorrow, and Connor snoring could've have drowned out a freight train. How no monsters found us last night was a mystery to me. Then again, none of them seemed very smart. Gabi was starting to stir. I wished I could have smacked her with a stick and put her back to sleep, but I figured Will wouldn't have approved.

"Morning," a voice said behind me. I jumped back and yanked out my sword, pointing it at the person who spoke.

"Bad dream?" Will laughed.

"Uh, no. Just a little jumpy, is all. It's not every day you learn that there's an entire world out there who would like nothing better than to kill you."

"Bad dream then," Will deduced.

"Ya." I let in. "You could say that." He had no idea. That dream topped out the charts for being the scariest. Even worse than when I was trapped in a room with a bunch of clowns.

"If you want to talk about it, let me know." He offered. "Wake up those two. I already woke up Gabi."

"Morning," she said. I glared at her just so she would know I didn't approve of her being alive. "Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." She snided.

"Gabi, enough." Will said. "Get packed. We need to get going."

I went over and kicked James, who sprang up yelling "I'm awake! Who died?" I ignored him and tapped Connor on the shoulder, who just grumbled something inaudible and rolled over. He started snoring again.

"Connor, get up." I said.

"Five more minutes," he pleaded.

I was about to tell him he was getting left behind when Will walked over and dumped a flask of water on him. He promptly woke up.

I looked at James asking what that was all about. "Only way to get him up, other than breakfast." He answered. "And I don't know about you, but I'm sick of ravioli."

"I really wish you guys wouldn't do that." Connor said.

"Wake up next time," Will replied. "Come on, we're leaving."

Connor didn't take long to pack and we were off. We walked mostly in silence until lunch. Nobody seemed anxious to talk after last night's conversation, and I had no desire to really talk to any of them. Even James didn't seem too funny today. He walked with Will for a while, and I could tell he was trying to get Will to tell him what he and Gabi were talking about last night. Judging by his expression when he dropped in behind Connor, he wasn't even remotely successful. He pried Connor for information, but Connor either didn't know much, or was very good at feigning ignorance. Gabi just ignored everybody like she usually does.

We stopped for lunch at an abandoned gas station in the middle of nowhere. Will and Connor went inside first to make sure it was clear. They even checked the tiny bathroom. James pulled the blinds and we made camp in the back next to the frozen food section. What was left of the food was molded and green, and you could see the giant puddle of melted ice cream on the floor. Will handed out the food, and we ate our cans in silence. James tried to make light of the situation, something about screaming and ice cream, but no one was in the mood.

We left as quickly as we came. James walked with me this time. The other three walked on alone.

"Hey," he said. I just nodded.

"So how's life?" He asked.

That got me to smile. "You're kidding, right?"

He laughed. "Ya, I am. We all know our life sucks. Just one of the joys of being us."

"You seem to be in a good mood. What's up?"

"You ever wonder if it's all worth it. To keep fighting." He stared at his feet as he shuffled on.

"I don't really know. I haven't been here that long. But why are you fighting?"

"It's our legacy as demigods. We fight to keep the fabric of Western Civilization together." Will surprised me. I didn't see him appear next to me. "That's why we are fighting."

"Where are the Gods? Shouldn't they be helping out?" I asked

"They are. They're fighting the Giants right now. In Greece." James said. "It's been a stalemate for years now."

"Stalemate?" I was astounded. "Nobody has gotten the upper hand in that long?"

"It's an immortal death match. It's just a fight where nobody can die. Those can go on for a while, you know." James sounded depressed. "Longer than our short lifetimes, anyways."

"Demigods and Gods have to work together to kill the Giants." Will said. "But we have been stuck here, defending Mount Olympus in New York."

"New York? Why are you guys in California then?"

"We have an outpost here, to keep an eye on the Titan stronghold. That's where we are headed. We'll take the Pegasus to Manhattan." Will adjusted his backpack. "But we have to make it there first. Keep your eyes peeled. We'll make camp in about an hour."

That's when the brush to our left rustled. A hellhound jumped out and tackled James to the ground. Will leaped over and stabbed it in the side, and it melted into shadows.

"What was that?" Connor yelled.

"Hellhound! Watch your backs. They always travel in packs." Will warned. And the rest of the brush tore apart.

There were about seven of the beasts. The team went to work. One of them swiped at Gabi, hitting her in her already wounded side. Connor attacked the hellhound, swiping his sword across its' face before stabbing it in the gut. James and Will were taking three hellhounds on their own, and Gabi was attacking two more of them with Connor.

I looked around trying to watch their backs when I stared down the snout of one. He must have been the leader. He was as big as a tank, with saliva dripping off his rows of dagger-like teeth. His red eyes gave me a look that told me I would be a very tasty lunch. He tensed up, and I rolled to the side as he leaped, burying his ugly snout in the dirt. I stabbed him in the flank and felt pretty good about myself. I stood there, expecting him to dissolve like the others. But he didn't melt. He just got angry. I ducked behind a tree as he swiped at me, cleaving my tree in half. It fell on top of him, pinning him to the ground. I peeked out from my spot. The tree seemed to be too heavy for him to pick up. I walked up and stabbed him in his heart. He gave me a final look of hate before dissolving into shadow, leaving behind some very smelly fur.

"Well," James commented, brushing off his shirt. "That was exciting."

We made camp a couple hours later. Will pushed us on a bit farther than we needed too, but no one wanted to camp anywhere near the fight. Connor went to go get firewood, and James cracked out a… book? I never thought I would see that.

Gabi went at me with her sword again, using me as her personal punching bag. I did a little better this time, managing to block most of her strikes, but she still whooped up on me pretty good. The hellhound must have put her in a bad mood. When she was finally finished with me, I stumbled over next to Will and collapsed on the ground.

"You seem to be a natural," he commented.

"I don't feel like one. I now know how a piece of steak feels before it gets cooked. Even breathing hurts." I sat up and collapsed back to the ground from the pain.

Will smiled and helped me sit up. "I never seen someone stand up to Gabi that long. You have to have some talent. Standing up to the best swordsmen we have takes a lot of skill."

"The best?"

"She may not be the quickest or the strongest, but she is clever. She beats up on just about everyone at camp. No one even tries to train with her anymore."

"Well that is just great." I laid back down and tried to get comfortable.

"Like I said, you have some talent."

"Well talent doesn't seem to be helping me enough. I am going to go die now."

"You sure you don't want any ravioli?"

"I'm sick of ravioli."

"Get some sleep then. I'll teach you some things tomorrow." Will said. I must have been really tired that night. I had no dreams. I'm not complaining.

Connor woke me up in the morning. My body felt like I had been broiled over a fire. Gabi tossed my pack onto to my stomach, crushing every one of my vital organs. "Here," she said. "I felt bad for you, so I packed your bag. Your welcome."

"Thanks," I muttered, and got up.

I was about to ask Will how far it was to Camp, when he tensed up and signaled for us to be quiet.

"Did you hear that?" He asked.

"Hear what?" James looked around.

I turned around to see where Will was looking at when I saw a tree flying at my head, before everything went black.


	8. Chapter 7

"Wake up sleepyhead." Someone smacked me in the face. I groaned in my mind. Whatever had happened, my face felt like it had been used as a punching bag. It would be a miracle if my nose wasn't broken. It was on fire. My eyes refused to open, and my tongue refused to move from the pain. Even my ears were tingling.

"He's out cold." Another person commented. I couldn't discern their voice with the buzzing in my ears. They slapped me again, using my face like a drum, making my teeth rattle. It made my face hurt worse, even though I didn't think it was possible.

"I think he moved his mouth! He's alive!" The first person said.

"It was just a twitch. Connor, put him back on the litter. We'll try to wake him in a couple hours."

I tried to talk, but my brain felt like mush. The tips of my fingers started to bristle, telling me that at least I wasn't paralyzed. I wiggled a couple of my toes. Nope, not paralyzed. Maybe it would hurt less if I was. I passed out.

When I regained consciousness again, it was night. I couldn't feel the heat of the sun on my face anymore. There were the regular chirpings from the crickets, and a couple of owls were hooting off in the distance. I heard a small creek gurgling nearby and I imagined how nice the coolness of its' waters would have felt on my body. Even in the cool night air, my body was melting.

I heard a couple of dings as a tin can was thrown into the night somewhere. It stopped, and about thirty seconds a barely audible ding echoed from somewhere far below me.

"Gods, I miss camp. I will never complain about the food ever again. If I even smell ravioli, I'm going to throw up." A voice said. I think it was Connors'. I hoped so anyways.

"We should be there in time for lunch tomorrow. I just want a nice soft bed to sleep on." replied Will. "These rocks are eating into my back."

"I need to finish my Go-Kart." James added. "Then these long quests would be a zip."

"You know, most people would find it selfish that you're building a Go-Kart in the middle of a war." Gabi said. "Like me."

"Let them think what they want. I want to actually enjoy life before I die. Not sit here all day and complain about the people around me." James shot back. "Like you."

I couldn't see the withering look that Gabi gave him, but I could feel it, and it made me glad I wasn't on the receiving end of it. I bet most monsters would have nightmares about it. "I at least take life seriously. This isn't a game, James. This is a life and death deal. Every day. I hope you realize that someday, before you get yourself killed."

"And look how happy that has made you."

"Why you little… You have no idea what I have given up. What I've had to go through!" Gabi's voice broke. "One day, I'll make you understand. I promise."

"Ooo, I'm so scared…."

Will cut in. "We've all lost something, Gabi. This war has been hard on all of us."

"No. You don't know anything. Not yet." She yelled, and walked off into the night.

"Do you think we should go after her?" Connor asked.

"No," Will said. "Let her have some time to cool off. I have a feeling if we follow her, our life-spans are going to be pretty short."

"Our life-spans are already short," James corrected. "Ever heard of a demigod having a happy ending? Ya, neither have I."

"What about Bobby?" Connor said. "He is like twenty-five now, and he is still going strong."

"Doesn't count. He is a legacy of Jupiter. And Mars." James defended. "He's got special stuff."

"Special stuff. And no small amount of luck." Will added. "He has been in more scraps than anybody at Camp. It's a miracle he still has all of his limbs. And they're attached, too."

"Have you heard anything from camp?" James asked.

"Not since we left. I figure if something happened they would have let us know by now." Will replied. "Well, something major anyway."

I rolled over, putting out my hand to stabilize myself, but there was nothing there. My hand just fell through the emptiness. I started to roll off the edge.

"Grab him!" Will yelled. I felt someone grab the back of my shirt and dragged me back from the ledge, depositing me right next to the fire. It started to singe my hair, and I tried to push myself away, managing to smack my head on some random rock. My head erupted into pain again.

"Next he is going to start sleepwalking," mumbled James.

"Everything hurts," I groaned. "Is this what dying feels like?"

"It probably hurts less. At least, that's what Hazel told me anyway. "James said. "Although, you don't look much better than a dead person."

"What happened? Why does my face fell like I head butted a pile of bricks?" I tenderly touched my nose. It didn't feel broken.

"You took a tree to the face. You should have seen it. Blood everywhere. I thought you were done for. But it seems like you're a tough nut to crack." James looked at each of us, expecting one of us to comment on his God awful pun.

"Earthborn threw a tree at you." Will told me finally. "Just about took your head off."

"Earthborn? What are those?" Great, I thought. Even more things out there trying to kill me.

"Giant mud people," James told me. "Eight feet tall. Six arms. And really smelly."

"Please tell me there is more Ambrosia. My entire body is on fire." I complained.

"No. We've given you too much already." Will said. "We don't want you bursting into flames after how much trouble we had to go through to find you."

"Ya, Aiden." Connor teased. "Don't make us waste our time."

"Shut up Connor."

He just started laughing.

I started to look around, trying to figure out where we were. They had set up camp on the side of a ledge, which looked like it went straight to the Underworld. All I could see below it was blackness. I couldn't even see the silhouette of the landscape below. A small stream ran along the ledge before it veered and plummeted off the edge, fracturing into a million tiny droplets on its journey to the ground below. Behind us rose a sheer cliff, completely unclimbable. It looked like a cozy little spot.

"If you're wondering where Gabi is, she took off a little while ago." Will informed me.

"Ya, I heard."

"How long have you been awake?" he asked as he took out his map.

"Awhile. I just didn't feel like moving."

"I don't blame you."

"Where are we?"

"The Berkeley Hills in San Francisco." He pointed his map. "Our outpost is… here." He dragged his finger to the spot. "Shouldn't take us too long to get there tomorrow. We'll resupply and fly out for New York the next day."

"Ah, finally. All the food I could eat," Connor said dreamily. "It'll be like a little slice of heaven. And apple pie."

Will gave him a look like he couldn't believe what he just heard. James started to choke on his water, spraying it all over the fire, where it started to hiss. "Is that all you ever think about?" He asked after he had managed to swallow the rest of his drink.

"No…" Connor said defensively. "Not the only thing."

I got up and walked to the edge of the ledge, stumbling a little bit. I didn't feel like listening to their stupid arguments. The headache was already bad enough. My face felt like one giant bruise and I think a couple of my teeth were a little looser than they used to be.

I stared out across the blackness and thought about my mom. Was she still alive? And if she was, where was she? Would I be able to find her in time? I prayed to everyone I knew that I could. That I would.

But I did know one thing. I wasn't going to New York. My mom was somewhere in San Francisco, and this is where I was going to stay. There was no way on earth that I was going to go off and fight a war for a father I never knew. If the Gods really wanted my help that bad, they were going to have to earn it first. Falling to their knees and begging would be a step in the right direction. I'm not going to fight for something that I had no part in.

"That is the most un-Ares like thing I have ever heard a Son of War say." A woman appeared next to me, straight out of thin air. She was beautiful in a motherly sort of way. Her face was regal, like a statue. Her hair was the color of chocolate, braided with gold ribbons, and draped over her shoulder. She wore a black dress, but when she moved it shimmered, revealing all the different colors you could think of.

She startled me so bad, I stumbled back, falling off the side of the cliff.

"Not so fast," she said. "We have things to talk about."

Invisible hands caught me in mid-air, setting me back in the same spot I was before she showed up.

"Um, thanks?"

"I couldn't let you die. You are more important than you realize." She said.

"Uh, that's comforting. I guess…" I looked back to see if anyone else had noticed this weird lady show up out of nowhere. They didn't seem too concerned. In fact, as I looked closer, they didn't even seem to notice. Or breathe.

"Don't worry, this is a private conversation," the lady said.

"Who are you?" I asked. Like I wanted anymore supernatural beings taking an interest in my life.

"I'm your grandmother."

"My grandmother died when I was five."

"You're godly grandmother. I am Hera. Queen of Olympus. Be sure to remember that next time," she threatened.

"You're the one who sent Will to find me?"

"Yes, I gave him a push."

"And I'm guessing you are here to meddle in my life. To try to get me to help you. Well I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not doing it." I told her. "I'm finding my mom. That's it."

"I'm not here to meddle. I came to give you a push, in the right direction." She said.

I waved her off. "Forget it. I'm not going."

"How many sons have lost their mothers? How many daughters have lost their fathers? And they don't have a chance to change the world. You do. You have the chance to help the world rebuild itself again."

"I don't care about the rest of the world. I care about finding my mother."

Hera sighed sadly. "That is more like your father. You may not believe me now, but he influences you more than you know. I only hope you pick the right side to fight for."

"I'll fight for my side. I don't care about anything else." I crossed my arms and turned my back to her, which probably wasn't the greatest idea in the world. I wasn't going to become someone else's servant. Not today, not ever.

Hera frowned. "I will tolerate your arrogance this time Aiden. But I will tell you, if you go after your mother, what you find will break you. And you will have wished you listened to your sweet, old grandmother." She disappeared in a flash of golden light, illuminating the entire place like it was daylight.

"Doubt it," I muttered, and I stared out across the night.

Will came over after a while. He sat down, dangling his legs off into oblivion. It reminded me of my near death experience just a few minutes before. I shuddered at the thought.

"Something up?" Will sounded genuinely concerned.

"Uh, no. Nothing's up." I lied. I could tell he saw right through it, but thankfully he didn't try to press me for answers. I wondered if I even knew them myself.

"Well then, I figured I would give you those lessons now. Help take your mind off things." He smiled at me.

"Um, sure. If it helps me avoid the bruising treatment, I'm all for it." My head hurt and I just really wanted to go to sleep, but I figured if it wasn't Will who beat me up, Gabi would. And she seemed like she would go for the kill.

"Great," he said and popped up. He drew his sword. "Now the trick is to always keep your balance. Trying not to fall off the mountainside should be a good motivator." And he lunged at me.

I almost died in the first two seconds. Will lunged and I stepped back, tripping over a stray rock. I regained my balance just in time. I looked down at my feet, my toes dangling over the edge. Three more inches, and I would have been nothing more than a grease spot on the ground below.

I backed up straight into Will's blade. "Balance is key," he instructed. "Now, take your spot."

I obliged grudgingly and stood opposite of him. He came out me again, but I was ready for it. I parried his thrust and swung at his arm. He blocked it easily.

"That was great," he said. "Good balance."

I was going to say thanks, but I never got the chance. He planted his foot behind mine and shoved me in the chest. I plummeted to the ground, jarring my head and generally making me wish I was dead. My head throbbed.

"But always be prepared for anything." He pulled me up.

"Thanks for the advice." I could barely think through the pain.

I stabbed at him before he could get a chance to recover. He parried, but only barely. I felt his shirt tug at my sword. He backed up, and I could see the small tear in the middle of his shirt.

"Always be prepared," I smirked, and went after him.

We dueled for a while. I pressed him as hard as I could. Will was concentrating on my sword, but I could tell he wasn't giving his all. It was nice to have a partner who lets you work at your own pace.

He attacked a little harder after a few minutes. Neither of us seemed to have the upper hand. Our swords just keep going back and forth, the clangs echoing against the empty night. I felt my body loosen up, and my headache went away. I was actually enjoying myself. I felt comfortable and the blade was perfectly balanced in my hand. James had made it well.

Will finally put everything he had into attacking me, and I was forced on the defensive. "Keep your guard up, Aiden," he said. Then he whacked me on the leg. "Not that far," he chided.

He kept doing that: giving me tips on how to block, dodge, or counter most of his moves. I ducked underneath one of his swipes, poking my blade in the small of his back.

"Dead," I said triumphantly.

"I told you. A natural," he said. He sheathed his sword. "Hopefully Gabi won't wail on you next time."

"We can only hope."

Will cracked a smile at that. "With a little training, you could easily become our best swordsmen. You might even stand a chance against Percy Jackson. Assuming he survives."


	9. Chapter 8

We arrived at camp just before lunch, just like Will had figured we would. There weren't more than 20 or 30 demigods here, doing the small stuff, like polishing armor, sharpening swords, among other things. A group of about 7 buildings ringed the headquarters building; a couple of dorm rooms, an armory, lunch area, and whatever else they needed to keep the place running. Two guards stood on either side of the entrance to HQ, each dressed in full battle gear. They had a sword and scabbard bolted to opposite sides of their waists.

Will lead us inside almost immediately after we arrived. Connor looked longingly at the mess hall, but Will gave him a nod, and he reluctantly followed the rest of us in. When I walked in, I had to catch my breath. What I was looking at looked more like a Rec room than the headquarters for an outpost. A small pool table was shoved off into one corner, and a large wooden table, about seven feet wide, dominated the middle of the room. A whole bunch of rickety looking wooden chairs surrounded it, all shoved back like the occupants had left in a hurry (which they probably had).

A topography map was nailed on the table, with a giant red X painted over a mountain that was labeled Mount Tam. I figured the X meant something like; _this is where you go if you want to get eaten_. I decided I would avoid that place if I could when I went looking for my mom.

A tough looking woman sat at a metal desk in the back, signing papers, which I assumed were orders. They probably didn't order pizza very often.

She didn't even look up when she spoke to Will in a voice that all but demanded obedience. "So I presume your search was successful?" she asked.

"Yes. We found the demigod we were looking for." He answered. "And we will be leaving for Manhattan tomorrow. We were hoping to borrow some Pegasi."

"On whose orders?" The woman asked sternly.

"Does the Queen of the Gods count?" James put in. I decided his sarcasm was going to get him killed.

The lady looked up. Her brown eyes showed the years of discipline she had. She was a soldier, and nothing else. Humor wasn't part of the game plan. I only hoped that the rest of Camp wasn't so serious. I guess that was war in a nutshell. No humor. Only death.

But what she said surprised me. "Yes, I'm sure it does. You're leaving in the morning, I'm guessing?" She gave James a small smile, before turning back to Will. The same hard expression came over her.

"Yes," Will said.

"Make sure to tell Marcus. You know how he is when one of the Pegasus goes missing. I don't want my ear to be chewed off for the next week."

"We'll be sure to tell him." Will promised.

"Good. You are dismissed then. Will, if you would stay, we have some things to discuss." She waved her hand.

I followed James and the rest out of the building.

"Cheery gal," I commented.

"You get stuck in a camp of Roman demigods for a few years, and we'll see how cheery you are," Gabi said, before walking off.

"I don't know about you guys," Connor started," but I'm off…"

"To the mess hall?" James guessed.

"Yep", Connor said, and took off towards lunch. He might have skipped a few times, but my attention wasn't on him. I had just noticed the showers. James must have saw where I was looking.

"The best part about Civilization. Running water," he said.

"Tell me about it. I haven't had in a shower in who knows how long."

James chuckled. "I was trying not to notice. C'mon, I'll show you the bunks first, and then you can go have fun playing in the water." He walked off in the direction of two identical buildings, both about ten feet high. From the outside they look like a regular building. There was a couple windows scattered throughout the walls, but other than that it was just plain wood.

The inside wasn't much better. Bunk beds took up every imaginable space, with just enough room in between them for a person to walk through. Two small chests sat at the ends of the beds, and armor hooks hung on the wall. Most of them were empty, but a couple had chest plates, shin guards, boots and other accessories hanging from them. James led me over to empty bunk.

"I know it's not much, but it beats the dirt any day," he said. "And it's right next to mine." He gestured to the bunk behind him.

"Thanks." I looked at my new bed. A thin mattress sat on top of a crisscross of wooden planks. It looked about as comfy as a nail covered board. A purple and orange tie dyed shirt lay on top of the mattress, with a pair of jeans I hoped were my size. I hadn't had a decent wardrobe in years, let alone a new shirt and pants.

"I'm going out for lunch. If they serve me anything Italian, I'm going to jump off a bridge." And James walked out.

I grabbed my new set of clothes, a towel from one of the hampers, and headed for the showers. To any of you 'civilized' people who might be reading this, you might think that taking a shower is not that great. Or that it is even a chore. Not for me. I lived most of my life looking for enough water clean enough to drink, let alone take a bath or shower in. And the fact that it actually had heat just made it a hundred times better. I imagined this is probably what Heaven felt like. A shower wasn't a novelty I was just about to let go to waste.

As the water ran over me, I tried to figure out what Will had meant last night. He had mentioned something about a demigod named Percy Jackson, but other than that, he wouldn't say a word. It made me really mad. These guys wanted me to trust them when it was obvious they were holding something back. I asked James about him on the way here. He gave me so many stories about the guy they should've been in a book. Either Percy Jackson was nothing less than a minor god, or James was embellishing the stories a bit. I figured it was the second one.

But it was the last story that had sent a chill through my body. He had fallen into Tartarus with another demigod, Annabeth Chase, and _hadn't been seen since_. Will hinted that he was still alive. Either they had found a way out of this life, or they were still down there. And that meant someone had to go find them. I had a good feeling of who they wanted to do that.

I stayed in until the water ran cold. I jumped out, toweled myself dry, got dressed, and headed in the direction of the food. A meal after a shower? Maybe this wasn't too bad of a life after all.

I passed Gabi on my way to the lunch table Connor and James were sitting at, and she gave me a hateful look. I rolled my eyes.

I pulled up a chair, sat down next to James, and stared at the table. "Where's the food?"

"Just say whatever you want," Connor told me. "It'll appear in front of you."

I eyed him cautiously. I didn't know if he was yanking my chain or what… "Steak," I said hesitantly.

Sure enough, a huge, juicy piece of meat materialized in front of me. I cut it open, not believing my eyes. It was cooked perfectly too. Medium Rare. Yum.

Connor stared at the meat in front of me. "Wish I'd thought of that," he mumbled.

"What about drinks? Same thing?" I asked.

James nodded his head and took a bite of his hot dog.

"Pepsi." A goblet appeared on the table, which instantly filled with the black syrup. I took a sip. Amazing. I could get used to this. Before I knew it, I had an empty plate in front of me and I was gulping down goblet number three.

James stared at me in amazement. "I think he has a bigger appetite than you Connor."

"Impossible," Connor replied with a mouth full of pie.

I studied the people gathered around us. Most of them looked like regular teenagers who should be in the middle of enjoying their lives, but they all wore the same expression more or less. They all had been in fights for their lives, and had seen more than their fair share of death.

The guy who was sitting across from Gabi caught my eye. He looked about my age, with scruffy brown hair. He was moderately built, and had a scar running along the edge of his arm. They seem to be in a deep conversation about something.

"Are we ready to go then?" he asked.

"We'll leave tomorrow. I have a meeting with him tonight. Then we will leave for the location he gives us. We should be back before anyone notices we're gone." She said

"How close are they?"

"Close enough. His boss apparently had them mirroring the kid we picked up. I don't know why. Doesn't really matter. He'll be dead by the end of the night tomorrow."

"Poor guy. Won't even know what happened to him." The guy laughed harshly. Gabi got up and left, and her friend followed closely behind her.

"Aiden," James said. "What's up? Did you just see a ghost?"

His question shocked me back to reality. "I-uh, no. I was just zoning out. Sorry."

Connor gave me a suspicious look, but he was soon interested in his pie again.

"Well I'll give you a tour if you're done eating." James offered.

"Uh, sure. Sounds nice, thanks." I said. I needed something to help me forget about what I just heard. I didn't like Gabi, but she didn't strike me as a traitor type of person. Was she?

I followed James around that afternoon. He showed me the rest of the outpost, which didn't look like much. We practiced a bit of archery, went rock climbing, and had a couple of duels in a tiny looking arena. Regular camp stuff.

We had dinner afterwards, and a small campfire. A couple of guys behind us mumble something about Greeks and their campfires, but I had no idea what they were talking about. The leader addressed us, telling everybody that it seemed like the same thing tomorrow.

"What about the army?" somebody in the crowd asked.

"They're still south of San Francisco." She answered.

"Doesn't anyone find it weird they haven't moved in three days?" Another camper asked.

"It is very peculiar," she said. "But until we know more, it's regular duties as usual. Group 3, you got Night watch tonight."

Quite a few groans were heard in the crowd. "We had Night Watch three nights ago," one of them complained.

"Well, Group 4 and 5 are still in the infirmary, so tough luck. Everyone else hit the showers." She walked off. The crowd dispersed.

"What happened to those groups?" I asked when we had gotten ready for bed.

"Cyclop raiding party hit in the middle of the night. Nobody died, but just barely. They've been the infirmary for almost a week now." And with that comforting thought, James rolled over and went to sleep.

I stared at the ceiling, listening to the steady breathing of those around me. The guy in the bed above me rolled, and the board supporting him creaked a bit. He was a big guy and I figured it was only a matter of time before it snapped, and I had the life crushed out of me. When I was sure everyone had gone to sleep, I got up, packed everything I had in my backpack, which was only a couple clothes and some nectar and ambrosia Will had given me.

I crept outside, careful not to step on anything. Or anyone. I grabbed a shield off the wall on my way out, which had 'Matt' and 'Group 4' labeled on the inside. I figured he wouldn't be needing it as much as I would anytime soon.

I looked around outside. I had no idea where to go from here. My mom could be anywhere by now. Finding her would be nearly impossible, if she was even still alive. Don't think like that, I scolded myself. She is alive. And I _will_ find her, one way or another. I heard a small ruffling sound come from inside, and I scuttled around to the back of the dorm.

Gabi appeared after a few seconds. She scanned her surroundings before heading off to a remote part of camp. I followed her. After that conversation at lunch, I wanted to see what she was up too. She took a seemingly random path, stopping to look behind her every once in a while. Definitely suspicious.

She finally stopped in a thicket of small trees and bushes, close to the edge of camp. I ducked behind the showers and peeked out to see what she was doing. She pulled a small water bottle out of her pocket, spraying it into the air. I saw a small rainbow flicker to life in the light of the full moon. She fished a golden coin out of her pocket, flicked it into the rainbow, and started to mutter something.

The coin disappeared, which was weird. You would think a coin flying through the air would land on the ground at some point. I didn't have time to worry about it though, because the air in front of her shimmered for a second, revealing a guys' face. I recognized him immediately. It was Bill. The bandit. One of the men who kidnapped my mother. That was who she was talking to?

Anger welled up inside of me. She knew about my mom. She had been planning this the whole time. I wanted to skewer her right there, but something she had said popped into my mind. _We'll leave for the location he gives us_. I had to control my anger for now. I needed to know where he was.

"Has anyone found out?" Was the first thing he asked.

"No. No one knows about it yet. But it will be pretty hard to explain when…" she started.

"We'll worry about that when the time comes." He assured her. The way he talked to her was much more… personal, but I didn't care. They would both die if they hurt my mother. "For now, we need to worry about the plan. Are you guys prepared?" He said.

"Yes, we have everything we need." She answered.

"Great. The attack will be at Sunset."

"Where are we to meet you?" she asked.

"There's a cave about a couple miles southeast of your camp. I'll see you there," he said. "And stay safe."

"Don't worry, we will," she promised.

"What are you doing," someone whispered behind me. "Spying on someone?" I jumped at the sound of their voice, banging my new shield against the wall. I looked at who had snuck up on me. James squatted behind me, a stupid grin on his face.

"Are you trying to get me caught?!" I whispered.

Gabi heard me, and started coming towards the sound.

"Move," I hissed at James. We took off as quietly as possible, ducking into one of the shower rooms. Gabi marched to the spot we were just at. After a few agonizing seconds, she moved on. I turned back to James, determined to tell him off.

"What are you doing," I said, barely able to keep it at a whisper.

"I noticed you had snuck out. I came to see what you were up to." He said innocently. "What were you doing?" He crossed his arms.

"Nothing. None of your business." I glared at him.

"Which is it? Nothing? Or none of my business?" He was trying not to laugh.

"Just go back to bed," I said. "Before I snap and hurt you."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'll be right behind you," I lied. "I just need a few minutes alone."

I could tell he really didn't want to, but one more look from me, and he got up to leave.

"Promise?" he asked.

"Ya," I lied. "I promise."

James left, walking off to the dorm room. I heard Gabi walk back to her spot in front of Bill.

"Was there anything there?" he asked.

"No, I didn't see anything," she said. "One more thing. The ceremony. How long until you'll be ready to proceed with it?"

"We have most of the supplies. Our mistress is getting anxious, but it should be completed by sunset tomorrow, at the very latest. Do not be late. We don't want anything bad to happen." He warned.

"Don't worry, father. We won't be late." She promised. The message disappeared into mist, and Gabi headed back to the dorms.

Her father? This just kept getting better. I cleared my head. It didn't matter who was related to who. I knew where my mother's kidnappers were. I was going to find them and save my mom.

I headed out of the showers and clambered up to the top of the hill. The night watch didn't to seem to pay much attention, but then again I guess most monsters weren't exactly… stealthy. I took one last look back. The outpost seemed peaceful enough. It was a nice place to be, but for me it wasn't home. Home was where my mom was. And she wasn't here. I silently thanked for them for everything they had done, and headed out into the night.


	10. Chapter 9

I really wish I had borrowed a map too. The shield had been pretty handy, but for all its good, it couldn't tell me where I was. And I was hopelessly lost. You would think a cave a couple of miles southeast would be pretty easy to find. But this nature preserve had a lot of caves.

I found a dry looking cave and made myself at home. I rummaged through my backpack trying to find something to eat, but all I pulled out was a couple of granola bars. I had woken up this morning to a hellhound tearing apart my pack, looking for food. It hadn't been too much to deal with, but I now had a new dent in my shield and part of the corner had been sheared off.

I looked up at the sky. It was already midday, and I was no closer to finding my mom than I had been this morning. I hurriedly finished my granola bar and grabbed my stuff.

I walked around for what seemed like forever. The surroundings made it hard to move faster than a slow walk. The pine trees had overgrown so much, it looked like someone had injected them with steroids. Roots popped out of the ground at odd times, making it impossible to look up for more than a second. The sun was almost completely blocked out by the canopy, casting everything in a deep shadow, even in the middle of the day.

It didn't help the caves were littered all over the place. I checked every one, hoping to spot some sign, anything, that would lead me to my mom. Most were little more than holes in a wall, but I did spend 40 minutes to find my way out of one that took me five minutes to get lost in.

I found another cave, and I peeked inside. There was a fire ring in the middle, and the residue of smoke on the ceiling from a fire, but other than that, it looked like it had been empty for a long time. There were water streaks in the soot on the roof. It hadn't rained in days. Dead end. I moved on.

I saw another cave after a while, also empty. This was taking too long. There was no way I would be able to find this cave by nightfall. I hadn't even made it halfway across the valley yet.

That's when I heard it. CLANG! I scrambled up the hill in front of me, trying to get a better look. I couldn't tell if it was an echo or not. I looked around and didn't see anything. Another CLANG broke the silence, followed by a muffled grunt. It sounded like it was coming from below me. I crested the hill hoping to spot the source of the sound. In front of me stretched even more of the forest, wild and foreboding. The hill slopped gently downward. There were no obvious signs of any caves or holes in the ground, but I was sure the sound had come from below me.

I turned around hoping to see something I missed, but everything looked normal. That's when I heard a couple voices coming from below me and I ducked behind a rock at the top of the hill. There was definitely someone around here. I couldn't tell what they were saying but I was almost sure…

"Shut up," one of them grunted. "Before I break your teeth in."

"But I hate all this sword fighting. I just want to go eat dinner," the other one whinned.

"You won't be eating anything with a broken jaw," the first one said. It was followed closely by a few more CLANG!'s and some more muffled sounds.

I saw one of them appear, almost like he had melted out of the side of the ground. Another guy followed closely behind him, swinging a wicked sword. His strike would have easily cleaved me into two, but the other guy blocked it like it was nothing. They were both covered in scars. They only difference between the two was the hair. One had black hair hanging down to his eyes, while his brother had red hair, almost the color of blood. I knew these twins. I rolled over and almost shouted to the sky with glee. I had found the bandits.

I never got to enjoy my good fortune though, because at that moment someone pounced on me, and I could feel the sharp, cold edge of a blade against my throat.

"Going somewhere?" The guy asked. His brown hair hung around his head in clumps, and his brown eyes showed the mistrust he had for the world. I tried to back up, but I was pinned against the rock that had been my cover only moments before.

I tried to get a better view of the sword. It was a little too close for me to see clearly, but I did notice the arm holding the sword. A single, white scar ran down the length, perfectly dividing his arm into two. I saw that scar before…

I looked off to the side. A girl with long blonde hair stood off a few feet, her arms crossed, and a furious expression on her face. Her gray eyes swirled like a hurricane, and it was clear she didn't approve of me being alive. "What are you doing here?" Gabi demanded.

"I should ask you the same thing." I spat. Anger started building inside of me. I was losing control, the hate and anger forcing itself into my mind. All the guy had to do was move an inch…

"Like I would ever tell you a thing. Now talk, or Brady here will make sure you don't do anything stupid." She threatened.

"What are you going to do when Will gets here, Gabi? They might not have noticed you were gone, but what do you think they were going to do when they discovered I had disappeared in the middle of the night?" I countered.

"Wait a second, this is the kid you were talking about?" Brady asked, confused. His grip slackened only a bit, but it was all I needed. I grabbed his sword hand, crushing it against the hilt. He screamed in agony and tried to get away from me, but I held fast. I leapt up and shoved him back, yanking the sword out of his hand. He stumbled back, clutching the now broken fingers on his hand. I threw the sword at Gabi, who deflected it easily, but it had distracted her long enough for me to grab my shield. I flung it at Brady. It hit him square in the chest, sending it and him tumbling down the hill.

I turned to Gabi with a fire in my eyes. I pulled my sword out of my sheath and pointed it at her. "You were saying?" And I charged.

It was true Gabi was a better swordsman than me before, but the anger drove me on. She was keeping up with me, but only barely. Hate gave me strength, and she had a hard time staying out of the way of my sword. For all the tricks she knew, moves she had mastered, she was never able to go on the offense. I swung at her head and she blocked, but I could see the quiver in her arms. She was having a hard time trying to keep me at bay. That thought drove me on. She would never touch my mom.

She started moving to the left, trying to protect her wounded side. I powered on. It was only a matter of seconds before she gave in. I was so focused on her I never noticed Brady running up the hill. He slammed into to me, knocking my sword out of my hand. He pinned me to the ground easily. I tried to fight him off, but there was no hesitance in him this time. It just made me angrier.

"NO!" I screamed and thrashed, trying to loosen Brady's grip, but he was a much better wrestler than I was. "You will never hurt my mom!"

"Your mom? But…" Brady started.

"The lady they have. That's not… She can't be…" Gabi stuttered.

"I will kill you," I said through clenched teeth. "And the rest of your bandit gang."

"No, Aiden, you have the wrong idea. I swear." Gabi defended.

"I heard you last night. Talking to Bill. Your father." I glared at her. I could see the sweat pouring down in buckets from our fight. I had hardly lost my breath.

"Yes, he is my father. But you don't understand…" she said.

"I understand plenty!" I yelled.

"Just shut up! And listen," she screamed. She startled me with that outburst. Her voice broke in pain. "Brady, let him up."

Brady got up off of me, and I stood, eyeing them both cautiously. I figured that maybe if they wanted to kill me, they would have done it already. But I still picked up my sword.

"Alright," I said. "Talk."

"Bill, yes, he is my dad. But we're here to kill his boss, Smoky." She said. "And to stop the Ceremony. We're not here to help them. I promise."

"Why are you here?" Brady demanded.

"Are you that stupid?"

"Don't even start with me boy."

"Boy? You're the same age I am!"

"Brady, shut up." Gabi cut in. "We're not here to fight him. Sunset is almost here. We need to get a move on."

"But what about your dad?" he asked.

"It's already too late. He should have been here by now. Besides, I think Aiden would be more than willing to help us."

"Why should I help you?"

"Because we're here to save your mom."

That threw me off guard. She had to be lying. But her eyes were defiant, during me to challenge her. "You're what?"

"You're sure this is where you saw them?" Gabi asked suspiciously. "I don't see a cave."

We were crouched behind a clump of bushes at the bottom hill, next to the spot I had seen the twins fighting. But there was no cave entrance. It was all solid ground. Not even a rabbit hole.

I looked back at the two of them. Gabi had her eyes trained on the side of the hill, looking for some kind of clue. Brady was flexing his fingers. It was nothing a little nectar and ambrosia couldn't fix, but they still seemed a little stiff. I looked at them in satisfaction. He saw me staring, shoved his hand in his pocket, and crouched down next to Gabi, giving me a hard stare the entire time.

"Told you," he whispered in her ear. She hushed him and stood up, walking over to the edge of the hill. I didn't understand what she was doing, but I did know two things. Butch and Big Jim had been here not ten minutes ago, and humans couldn't walk through walls. It made no sense. They simply disappeared into the ground.

"You're lying." Brady glared at me. He put his hand on his sword.

"I'll break both of your hands this time." I glared back. "See how well you fight then."

"I'll gut you like a…" he said. That's when Gabi screamed. We both forgot we had just been about to kill each other and looked over to where Gabi had been standing. She was gone. Disappeared. I looked over the rest of the hill trying to see a glimpse of her.

When I did finally spot her, I couldn't believe my eyes. She was standing at ground level, but you could only see her from the waist up. The hill parted around her like water. It was like she was half sunk in the ground.

"Found the entrance." She said. "We need to move. Sunset is only a few minutes away."

I made my way over to where she was. I tentatively put my foot out. It went straight through like the hill wasn't even there. I stared at the fake door. It looked so real, with grass and flowers all shown, like a hologram. Gabi walked inside, and Brady walked in behind her. He flashed me a look; _we'll finish this later_, and disappeared inside. I followed them into the ground.

The first thing I thought was: light. It was way too bright to be a cave. The tunnel was completely lit, but there wasn't a torch in sight. Gabi lead the way, with us right behind her. She was taking her time, like she was expecting something to happen.

"Why are we taking so long?" I asked. "Sunset is almost here. And there are only four of them."

"It's not the bandits I'm worried about." She didn't say anything after that.

We followed the tunnel for a few more minutes. It felt like hours dragged by. Each step took longer than it should have. I needed to find my mom. I was about to tell her to get a move on when I saw the tunnel open up in front of us.

The cavern was huge. It was nearly as big as the hill which it hid under. The walls were covered with precious metals, at least several million dollars of gold, silver, emeralds, and rubies all over the place. The room itself was nearly bare, with a couple tables that were piled with a whole assortment of things I couldn't even come close to naming. Flowers and potions were thrown about the tops of the tables. The bottles were all empty, and the flowers were missing most of their petals. Whatever they had been used for was already made.

That's when I saw her. My mom. She was chained to the farthest wall, dangling like a rag doll. She look extremely beat up. Scratches and cuts covered her arms, and her clothes were torn and ripped. I stumbled into the middle of the room, completely oblivious to anything else. I had found her. She was alive. Everything was going to be okay.

She looked up at me, and her face morphed into a mixture of fear and sadness. But her eyes only told me one thing. _Run_.

"Mom…" I choked.

"Aiden, honey, you need to leave," she rasped. "Now. Before…" She gasped and her body shuddered. She arched her back, like she had just been stabbed.

"M-mom, what… what's wrong? What's happening?" I stuttered. My heart shattered, staring at my mother broken and beaten like that.

"It's almost done. It won't be long before she takes over." She strained. "I can't keep fighting much longer."

"What? Who, who is taking over? What's happening?" I cried.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the twins come out of a door that hadn't been there before, but I couldn't be sure. My brain had a hard time processing things at the moment. I heard the sounds of fighting.

"Aiden, you need to go," she begged. "You're not safe here."

"No," a voice agreed. "He most certainly isn't."

I spun around at the sound of that voice. Smoky stood at the entrance of the tunnel we had just come through, a pistol strapped to his waist. Behind him stood a group of those snake women, Dracaena.

"I'm glad you showed up. You're just in time for the main event." He gave me a crooked smile.

"Yes," I pulled out my sword, "I most certainly am."

"Nuh-uh-uh," he chuckled, putting his hand in his firearm. "Not so fast."

"Afraid to fight me yourself?" I yelled.

"Not even close. I don't want you to miss anything." He smirked.

"What?"

My mother screamed in agony. I could feel my soul wrenched in two at the sound of it. She started thrashing, tugging at the chains, trying to pull them out of the wall. Then, as suddenly as it started, she went limp. I wasn't even sure she was still breathing.

"You," I said quietly. "You're going to pay." I marched toward him.

Smoky laughed and motioned for his guards to attack. Afterwards, I could never describe what happened. My vision turned red, and I lost control of my body. Neither Gabi nor Brady would tell me exactly what happened. They would tell you they were busy fighting the twins, but whenever they looked at me afterwards, I could always see the hint of fear and respect in their eyes. Before I knew it, piles of sand and armor surrounded me and I was on top of Smoky, my knee in his chest and sword at his throat.

He sounded very much like Will did when I first met him, stuttering and mumbling. Gabi and Brady had subdued the twins, tying them together with some rope they found. I hit him in the head with the hilt of my sword, knocking him out, and ran over to my mom. I slashed at her chains and she fell to the floor like a sack of hammers.

For what seemed like an eternity my mom was completely still. She took a sharp breath in, and her body started shaking, like she was crying. She looked up at me and I realized something. She… She wasn't crying. She was laughing. But it wasn't her laugh. It sounded like the whole earth was shaking, laughing along with her.

I looked into her eyes. She had always had brown eyes, but not like this. Not, nothing like this. They were solid brown, like packed earth. She had no pupils anymore. No white in her eyes. They were solid brown.

"It is so nice to meet you Aiden," the woman cooed. "Your mother has told me so much about you." The voice wasn't my mothers'. It was old, ancient, and it sounded like gravel. If the world could talk, I imagined, this is what it would sound like.

I stumbled back in fear, disbelief. I couldn't believe my eyes. My mother was there… but she wasn't. It was her body, but her eyes showed no love, no caring. They weren't even her eyes anymore. I backed up until I felt the cold, hard metal of a gun press into my back. I apparently didn't hit him hard enough.

"Now, now, now," Smoky said, as he went to stand by my mother. "That is no way to be civil."

"What did you do to her?" I squeaked. I could barely force the words out of my mouth. The world started swimming. I wasn't even sure my feet were still on solid ground.

"I am pleased to introduce the newest member of your family. I hope you will make her feel at home. Say hello to Gaea. You might know her as Mother Earth." He bowed respectively at her feet, gun still pointed at my chest. Brady stood there, just as dumbfounded as I was. Gabi, thankfully, and you will never hear me say that again, was still functioning. She started to creep around towards Smoky's blind side, trying to get a position on him.

"Not so fast deary," Smoky said, standing up. "We don't want the young man to get shot do we?"

Gabi stopped dead in her tracks. She gave Smoky a long look of hate I'd only seen once (on me, of course) before throwing her sword on the ground.

"Good decision," Smoky waved his gun. "Now both of you over there, next to Mr. Young. We don't him to feel lonely, now do we? He is going need a great deal of friends to help him through this night."

Gabi and Brady came over slowly, hands raised, standing on either side of me.

My mom flexed her fingers, as if she was just getting used to her own body. "Finally," she muttered. "I can leave this godforsaken cave."

"Hey boss, what about us," Butch asked indignantly.

"Ya, let us go. I'm starving," Big Jim added.

"Quiet, both of you," Gaea commanded. "Sisyphus, I trust you will handle them. I have a son to deal with."

"Yes, my mistress." He promised. "They won't be any more trouble."

"Good." Gaea eyed each of us individually before walking out. She headed straight through the wall. It parted for her, giving her a perfectly sized tunnel to walk through. She walked in and the earth swallowed her. She was gone. She possessed my mother and walked out. Not even a thank you first.

"Sisyphus?" Gabi asked. "You're not the…"

"I am, my dear girl. The one from the stories. The one who trapped Jason and Piper. I'm sure you've heard of me," he gloated. "I was told Jason made it back to your precious little camp. I hoped you liked the stories. Poor Piper, on the other hand, well, she won't be telling you stories around the campfire anytime soon."

"You're a fiend," Gabi decided.

"Who told you? Was it Jason? Or maybe it was the time I tricked Hades into those cuffs? Nobody died for ages, you know. Some would say I was a hero! And this time, _this time_, it will be Zeus who has to push that infernal boulder. But it does not matter now. Your deaths are what concern me at the moment. So do you want to be shot, or shall I feed you to the wolves?" Sisyphus asked us.

"Fight me," I told him. "Or are you chicken?"

"I think I'll shoot you. I am just fascinated by this mortal weapon. I will quite enjoy using it on you." I saw a shadow move in the background, and Bill appeared out of the wall the twins came from. He gave me another wink, just like the one he gave me so long ago. "Now, over there," Sisyphus continued. "I don't want to get blood on my floor. Just had it cleaned for the party."

I looked around for something I could use, anything that could block a bullet. I felt my back for my shield before I realized it wasn't there. I had thrown it at Brady during our scuffle on top of the hill and never retrieved it. I kicked myself for being so stupid. He gestured for us to move back. Nobody took a step. He gave us a warning shot, the bullet landing in front of our feet, spewing dirt all over my clothes.

"I told you to move," he growled.

"No." Brady growled back. "If you're going to kill us, why would I want to make it easier for you?" I had to admit, the kid had guts.

"Fine then, your way." I closed my eyes. I could feel every heartbeat, the steady breathing of the two demigods beside me. I wondered if I would even feel it. Would I hear the gunshot? I heard a muffled grunt, and I forced my eyes to open. I looked around, expecting to see Gabi or Brady on the ground, but what I did see, I couldn't process. Sisyphus was still standing in front of us, his gun pointed at my head. He was staring at the object that was suddenly protruding through his chest. A long, glowing point of a sword. Bill stood behind him.

I didn't believe my eyes. This had to be a trick. I was dead. My mom was gone. The only person who mattered anything to me was gone. I had to be dead. I _wanted _to be dead.

Bill pulled his sword out and Sisyphus collapsed to the ground. "He always was an arrogant person. He thought he could outsmart anyone. Seems like his pride was his downfall once more."

He looked at us. "Sorry but we have no time for formalities. Grab your stuff. We need to leave before the army gets here."

"Army?" I was sure I didn't hear him right. "You said, Army?"

"Yes," he answered. "Gaea's army is just on the other side of the ridge. Near San Fransisco."


	11. Chapter 10

Bill managed to get us out of the cavern after a few moments prodding me. I couldn't believe myself. The world looked unreal. I was lightheaded, and I felt like I was floating in the middle of the room. My mom was gone. I had her in front of me and I lost her. It was now Gaea's body, and she left to do whatever she wanted. My mom was just a helpless slave to her own form.

The others took off down the corridor and I reluctantly followed them. I could hear Butch and Big Jim behind us, yelling at us not to leave them there. I wasn't even tempted to look back at them. There was no way I was going to help them. I was secretly hoping they would get eaten. They deserved worse.

We burst out of the tunnel. I didn't see anything in front of us except overgrown trees and tall, twisted shadows from the full moon. No signs of a mouse, let alone an army. A sharp, cold wind darted in between the tress, chilling me to the bone. It was way too cold to be a summer night. Something unnatural was making the wind blow. I could feel that much.

Bill didn't wait to smell the roses. He took off the way we first came in. Brady and Gabi followed them and were lost in the trees. I followed. We dashed through the woods, never slowing down for a second. Every now and then once of us would get caught be a tree root and go down, but would spring up just as fast, still at full speed. It wasn't the army that scared me. It was the wind. I had felt this cold once before. And I was sure I knew the source.

Bill paused suddenly. I didn't even have time to turn on the brakes before I slammed into him, sending us both to the ground. I rolled off of him, lying on my back, staring at the stars trying to catch my breath. Both Gabi and Brady were wheezing and coughing, clutching their chests. Bill looked like he had just taken a stroll through his front yard. But he was as still as a statue, staring out into the night ahead of him.

Brady was on his knees, trying to recover, but Gabi seemed to be doing better. She looked at her father, who was staring at the darkness intently, like he was trying to extract information out of it by sheer will power.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I thought… I heard…" he stuttered. "It's not possible."

Brady was standing now, his breathing almost normal. He took a step back. "Um, what?"

I felt a tremor pass through the ground, like a landslide had started. Or a boulder had tumbled out of the sky. Or…

I jumped straight up. "Their right in front of us. You lead us straight to them!"

I heard the distinct sound of trees snapping, and the whistle of something hurtling through the air. I flattened myself straight to the ground as the boulder sailed overhead, pummeling the ground behind us. Way behind us. I got the feeling that it wasn't aimed for us.

"What is going on?" Brady yelled. "What in the Hades was that?"

"The army is straight in front of us," I told him. "Her father," I snapped towards Gabi, hovering the point of my sword an inch from her throat, "lead us straight into a trap."

"What? No! He wouldn't have. I don't believe it!" She looked to Bill, who was still frozen to the spot, his eyes wide in fear. I didn't know what he saw, but it certainly scared me. I could almost feel the source of the wind now. Whoever was controlling it was close. Real close.

If you talk to anybody who has been in an artillery strike they will tell you it is terrifying when you hear the whistles of the shells passing overhead. But if you can hear the whistle, you're at least safe. It is when everything is silent that you begin to know true fear. The one that kills is the one you don't know is coming. But that's what I heard. No whistle, only the snapping of branches and trees.

Bill slammed into us a split second before the ground we were standing on exploded. Brady flew back into a tree while the three of us tumbled down a good ten feet into a bed of roots and leaves and grass. It would have been comfy if I was just taking a nap. But everything hurt. My ears were ringing. My eyesight was blurry. My brain felt foggy. My head felt like an over inflated water balloon. I could taste the metallic tint of my blood on my tongue. I tried to stand up, but my whole body felt like it was spinning. I tried to cover my ears from the ringing and pulled them away covered in blood. I couldn't even crawl.

I could just make out someone shouting and something slapped me in the face. The hot taste of Chinese tea coated my throat, though I had no idea why I was drinking it. My brain cleared some. My eyesight returned almost too normal. My ears still rung, but it seemed distant and quiet, not the loud, searing sound it had been. I tried to think back. The boulder. Trees snapping. It hit me like another explosion. I had almost been vaporized. Bill saved my life.

He was standing over me, yelling something. I tried to focus and could barely register what he was trying to ask. Can I walk? Am I alright?

"Yes," I choked, spitting out blood and dirt. I stood up and took a couple of wobbly steps before getting my bearings again. My entire body felt feverish. I knew that the square of Ambrosia in my pocket would be just as deadly as the boulder.

Brady let out a groan from the base of his tree, letting us know that he was at least alive. He cracked opened his eyes and stared at all of us like it was the first time he had seen anything. Not good. But Gabi was worse. She was unconscious, with bits of shrapnel still lodged in her face. She was unnaturally pale and her breathing was shallow and ragged. Bill dribbled as much nectar into her mouth as he dared, and some color returned to her cheeks, but I could still tell she was on the tittering brink of life and death. That godly drink only bought her a few hours. Half a day at most. I thought about the amount of time it took me to get here from camp. She would never make it.

Brady sprung up, and I could tell that he had remembered what just happened. He looked around to get his bearings, but when he saw Gabi I could see the life drain out of him again.

I looked back at her. I felt something strange. A surge of protectiveness. I wasn't going to let some rock-throwing monster kill this infuriating daughter of Athena. That was a specialty reserved only for me.

"Carry her," I ordered Bill. "We need to get out of here now." While I was dead sure Bill couldn't have cared either way if I died, I knew he wanted to protect his daughter. I could see that much. Brady was still in shock, and I had to smack him a couple times to get him moving again.

I lead the way this time. We ran perpendicular to the army, straight up an ever-increasing slope of a mountain. I was hoping we could get high enough to discourage any pursuers. That's when I heard the war horn. A sharp, high, piercing call off to my left. Not more than 50 feet away, I could make out the silhouettes of large things. At least ten to fifteen feet tall, with massive arms and a giant torso, with tree trunks for legs. A couple of them launched boulders, which sailed harmlessly over our heads and into the gloom beyond. They exploded into shrapnel. I heard strange cries. A wail. A bark. A scream. And none of them were remotely human.

Bill looked at where the boulders had just smashed the ground. "That's what we were running from. One of Gaea's armies."

Another war horn cut through the night, to our right this time. But this one was different. It was a much deeper sound, like rumbling earth.

We didn't need any more encouragement. We scrambled up the side of the mountain, climbing over razor sharp rocks, tripping over loose stones, stubbing our toes on boulders here and there. I don't know how long we climbed. By the time we stopped, I couldn't lift my arms above my shoulders. Brady was nearly dead from exhaustion, and Bill was doing his best not to heave. We propped Gabi up against the edge of the cliff. Her father tried to get more godly stuff into her, but I told him to stop. I could feel the heat radiating off of her from here.

Down below us, in the thick of the trees, I could hear the sounds of battle. Trees smashing. A wail of pain. The piercing call or rumbling sound of the war horns. I had no idea what was going on, and if Bill did, he seemed keen on keeping it to himself. He was bent over his daughter, stroking her face and murmuring to her, even though she couldn't hear any of it. Brady was sprawled out on the ground fast asleep. I didn't know how. My nerves were too overloaded to sleep. I remember that not more than a couple of hours ago I would have sliced him to pieces and not even bat an eye. Now, I just mildly disliked him. He earned a little respect in that cave next to me, defiant to his last breath.

The light of the explosion lit up our little camp. The rattling boom came a second later, setting my ears on fire. They started ringing again. I peered down at the landscape. A fifty foot wide swath of forest has been vaporized, leaving a smoking crater almost twenty feet deep. The battle had distracted my thoughts, which I was glad for. I couldn't stop thinking about my mom. Ever since I left that cave, I couldn't tear myself away from the way her eyes had molded into packed earth. Her voice, heavy and ancient, filled with hate and loathing of everything. The way she stalked out, not even acknowledging I was worthy of existence.

I knew one thing. I would fight in this war. I would help the Gods defeat Mother Earth and her sons. There was no end I wouldn't pass, no challenge to great, or pain too hard to bear that would ever stop me from destroying every last remnant of Gaea. If it was the last thing on earth I would do, her end would be it. I would destroy her utterly and without remorse. This was personal.

Down below, I felt the tide of battle shift. Someone had finally gained the upper hand. The losing army started to break apart like an iceberg in summer waters, before the entire line collapsed and it turned into a full retreat.

I laid my head down, wondering if I should just kill Bill now, or let him try to explain himself first, then kill him. It would almost make up for the part he had to play in my mother's… possession. Almost. I watched the stars, thinking about how beautiful they were tonight, and that she would never get the chance to see them ever again. Because of him. Smoky/Sisyphus, whoever, was dead, and the twins were monster snacks. He was the only one left to pay.

I don't remember falling asleep, only the fact I was disappointed. I had come up with my plan. I tried pinching myself to wake up, but nothing happened. I just floated on top of the hill like last time.

Last time. Hill. I spun around, hoping that I wasn't where I knew I was. I was instantly disappointed. Below me, the red fortress from my last dream dominated the landscaped. It positively glowed, as if someone had lit a very large candle somewhere inside. The double walled black castle surrounding it was almost completed. The only things left under construction were the towers that sprung up from the outer walls at certain intervals. Half-finished ballista and catapults sat on top of the completed towers. The moat was filled with flames. It was built to be impenetrable. Like anyone in their right mind would try to assault it.

I pinched myself one last time, desperately hoping that I would wake up. Whatever brought me here though, was determined to make me stay for as long as possible. I drifted towards the palace again, drifting over the buildings of the castle. Every type of monster I could think of roamed around, polishing their weapons, which ranged from a double-bladed axe, to some sort of flamethrower type thing, to their own claws, talons, and fingernails. Some of them looked around sniffing the air as I drifted over, although how they could smell me in dream form, I had no idea.

I finally arrived in the throne room again. It was just as I remember it, with Greek columns soaring up to the ceiling, and carvings decorating the wall, all washed in blood red. Exactly in the middle of the room though, was something new. A statue of a tall, proud, warrior rose almost 15 feet up, made of beautifully polished diamonds. It was half finished, ending at about the waist. Teams of Cyclops hauled in new slabs of diamonds. As I looked closer, I could see inscriptions carved into the blocks. I couldn't read it, but I recognized it. The language of Magic.

Groups of dark, fuzzy creatures hammered at the blocks, carving them very, very carefully into the shape they needed to be for their respective positions. More operated lifts and pulleys, placing the blocks into place. Sea Demons, Will called them. At the end of the room sat a figure I recognize from my last unannounced trip. Kronos, the Lord of Time. He fingered something across his lap, a crescent shaped piece of metal, which glinted two different colors. Bronze and gray.

He watched the work progressing with a cold interest, seeming only to care when the project would be finished. Another person approached him. Prometheus. The scars on his face seemed to have been re-opened. They were red and visibly throbbing.

He didn't bow this time, just stood to the right of the throne. The wind deposited me just in front of them.

"How much longer until it is completed?" Kronos asked.

"Three months milord," Prometheus responded.

"Bah," Kronos spat. "I want it done in a month. Or I will feed them to the drakon myself."

"It is slow work," Prometheus said. "If their chisel even scrapes the block in the way it has not been prepared, it will-" Suddenly there was a loud _POOF! _I turned around. Where the monsters had been working now sprouted a twelve foot tall Christmas trees, at least three dozen of them, complete with snow. "-do that," he sighed. 'That's the third accident this week."

Kronos turned red with rage. "Stop. Wasting. My. TIME!" He yelled, slamming his fist against his throne, cracking it. "I cannot leave this infernal place until it is completed! If one more thing goes wrong, I will feed YOU to the drakon!"

Prometheus bowed so low I thought he was going to start moping the floor with his face. "I understand my lord. However, do you deem it so wise to rebuild your immortal spirit," he gestured to the half-finished statue, "in this type of monument? Perhaps we could find you another host, one more willing…"

"ENOUGH!" Kronos bellowed. "If you dare to as speak his name, and I will tear you limb from limb!" Kronos stood, leaving inches between him and Prometheus. "The drakon would enjoy being fed early…" He threatened.

Prometheus gave one final bow and scrambled for the exit. Kronos turned straight towards me and swung his sword. I only had enough time to yell before his blade passed through my heart.

I woke up screaming, clutching at my chest. I could literally feel my soul being sliced into two as my dream faded. I force myself to take deep, steady breaths. Calm my heartbeat. I repeated to myself over and over, _it was only a dream. A very scary, real dream, but still just a dream_.

I looked around after I got myself under control. A faint glow came from the east, indicating it was almost dawn. Brady was stilled passed out in the same position he was last night. Bill hovered over Gabi, giving me a startled look before he decided I was alright and went back to nurturing his daughter. Now would be the best time, I thought. I stood up, walked over, and put my sword against his throat. "Any last words before I kill you?"

"I save your life three times, and this is how you pay it back, eh?" He replied calmly.

Eh? Who says eh anymore? "Twice," I corrected. "And you only did it because your daughter would've died too."

"I believe the back yard makes three."

Disbelief shot across me. The back yard? There was no way. Unless… No it couldn't be. Could it? It wasn't possible. "What do you mean the back yard? You took my mother. She's dead now because of you!"

"We could have easily taken you too. I knew where you were. Sisyphus knew too. Hiding in a bed of white roses. Nothing says perfection like white." He chuckled at his comment before continuing. "Butch, lucky us, was a little slow, so we didn't have to explain to him why we weren't taking you alive just yet. Big Jim, well, he was just a waste of food. A good fighter too, maybe."

Confusion replaced my disbelief, freezing me to the spot. Bill pushed the sword away easily. He stood up, facing me.

"Why didn't you want me?" I finally stuttered.

"Gabi told me they were looking for you, so I convinced Sisyphus that you were more useful to him as a bargaining chip. A way to get Gaea to fulfill his deepest wishes."

"A bargaining chip? What do you mean?"

"You were his way of getting his kingdom rebuilt, his wealth restored, and his power returned. He wanted Hades on his knees before him. Begging like a child to be released, like he did so long ago. Sisyphus wanted to lay waste to the Underworld before Hades finally succumbed to Gaea's power. You were his way of getting that wish."

"That's ridiculous. I'm not that important."

Bill rolled his eyes before he went back to caring for his daughter. "You are more important than you realize," he said quietly, half to me, and half to his daughter.

I was about to demand that he tell me what he meant when Gabi gasped, her eyes fluttering open for a second before she slipped back into darkness. The moment of consciousness seemed to have cost her a lot. Her breathing became raspy and shallow, peppered with gasps of pain. Her skin turned clammy and sweaty. I started to reach for some Ambrosia to feed to her when Bill slapped my hand away.

"She's already had too much. You'll kill her!"

"She'll die if I don't. At least we can try." And I shoved the cracker in her mouth.

Her breathing steadied, but not by enough. She started glowing, the way the fortress did in my dreams. I put my hand on her forehead, taking it back almost immediately. She was almost on fire.

"We need to pour water over her. Now!" Bill yelled. I scrambled over, ripping Brady's water bottle out of his pack, who didn't even notice. I was beginning to wonder about him too. Bill draped a cool cloth over her head and helped me pour water over her skin, trying to cool her down. The patches of skin we doused first were almost dry by the time we had finish with the rest of her body. A couple minutes later the towel began to steam.

I was beginning to worry that I killed her when I heard the _THUMP _of a giant bird. I turned around and nearly had a heart attack. Above us in the sky, hurtling towards our little ledge, were five horses. And everyone one of them had a twenty foot wingspan.


	12. Chapter 11

I was sitting at the edge of the arena, feeling completely useless. _Stay here_, the half-goat man told me. _You've done enough already_. At first, I tried to keep myself occupied. I chopped up every single one of the practice dummies. Now a wasteland of straw, rope, and armor lay scattered across the arena. After that, I tried practicing with some of the live targets/ campers, but after the third broken arm, they decided that I was way too hazardous to be around. The leader of the outpost showed up shortly afterwards, ordering everyone to proceed with evacuation plan C, then turned and looked at me. "Stay here. You've done enough already." Exactly what the goat dude had told me. She left, along with the rest of the campers. A few gave me curious looks, but they all left without another word.

Now I was sitting here, doing nothing, which gave me too much time to think. I killed Gabi, I was sure of it. I could see the ends of her hair burning before they put her in the infirmary, before asking (ordering) me to go to the arena. Brady was in a coma, dead to the world. I should have known he had a concussion. And letting him fall asleep, stupid. Bill and I were the only slightly uninjured ones, and the second Bill touched down in camp, I knew there was bad blood between him and the leader. She looked at him murderously, and I was sure she was going to skewer first and ask questions later, until she saw Gabi and Brady. I was sure to be considered guilty by association. _You brought an enemy of the entire world to our camp with two incapacitated demigods? Awesome! Have some hot cocoa! _I snorted. Yeah right.

Will was no help either. How he found us was still a mystery, but he hasn't said a word to me. He didn't so much to as look at me when he helped Gabi and Brady onto their horses. Then we were off in a flash. He checked on Gabi a few times on our short flight back to camp. And again when we dismounted the Pegasus Express. Then I was sent to the arena.

I leaned back staring at the sky, wondering what to do. I guess I could run for it again. I immediately knew my heart wasn't in it. So I sat here, twiddling my thumbs. I could hear people shouting orders and the sounds of buildings being disassembled. People ran around in every direction, gathering supplies and tools and materials. I wasn't sure how long it would take to destroy the place, but it was apparently longer than I thought.

Will walked in after what felt like forever. He still didn't say anything, which was starting to unnerve me. I know if my mom had caught me sneaking off in the middle of the night, she would've said _something_. But Will just looked at me, like he was trying to figure out how I ticked. I was about to tell him to just go ahead and yell at me when the commander walked in. That's why he didn't say anything. She would get first crack.

"Tell me what happened. Don't leave anything out," she warned, like I could even try to lie my way out of this. So I did, leaving camp, which was disturbingly easy by the way, to finding my mother and finally running away from two armies. I left out the part about the whole Bill being Gabi's father thing. I didn't think that would help her predicament. If she somehow managed to survive.

"Two armies? Are you sure?" She seemed interested all of the sudden.

"Ya, two of them. They seemed pretty interested in fighting each other." I could barely contain the bitterness in my voice. I just watched my mother die, and she was interested in a couple of armies. Was I the only one who cared about my mom's life?

"Are you sure they weren't on the same side?"

"Well they seemed intent on killing each other, so…" I trailed off for a couple seconds. "Maybe they were just fighting over who got the TV remote?" I rolled my eyes for good measure.

"A witty attitude won't win you any points here, Aiden." She examined me like she was trying to decide which way I would look best tied to a stake.

"Good thing I don't plan on staying then." I knew I was pushing it now, but I had a rough day and I was tired of being interrogated like I was the bad guy here. There was an evil goddess out there who was trying to destroy the world. My little side quest seemed like an insignificant blimp compared to that.

She paced the arena, thinking intently. I was sure I was a dead man when she turned back to me. "No, you won't be staying here."

"I, wait what?"

"The three of you are leaving for Manhattan, immediately." She flinched, like someone had just poked her.

Will finally spoke up. I had almost forgotten he was here. "The three of us? Who else is going?"

James ran into the arena, stopped in the middle, and collapsed on the ground, panting.

"He knows how to make an entrance," I observed.

"You can cut back on the dramatics James. The bunks aren't that far." The commander said.

"I'm guessing he's the third?" Will asked.

"Yes I am," James pulled himself up. "So when do we leave?"

"Right now. Marcus already has the Pegasus ready for you." She said.

"Great," James said. "I can't wait."

"So you're just letting me go." I said

"Yes," she answered like she couldn't believe what she just said.

"Just like that."

"Yes."

"For Manhattan. As in, New York."

"Yes."

"That's, like, 3,000 miles away."

She was getting annoyed now. "What's your point?"

"That's, like, a long ways away."

"And if you want to start your vacation before winter, I suggest you leave now."

I stared at her in amazement. I couldn't believe it. I didn't think it was possible. But it was. She had a sense of humor. I nearly cried.

Will started to lead us out of the arena. The commander grabbed James by the shoulder before we made it out. "Remember to tell Chiron everything this time James. He needs to know."

"Don't worry Clarisse, I will. I promise."

"Good. And tell him we changed our address too." She said. "Now get going before I skewer you."

I was about to head out when I thought of something. "Wait! What about Bill? Why isn't he coming with us? We could use the information he has." I could drill him about where my mom might be, I thought.

Clarisse's look turned dangerous. "That is not your concern. Now leave, before you join him." She spat.

I wanted to protest. Make up some kind of viable excuse of why he needed to come, but before I could even make a squeak, she stormed off to her headquarters.

"Well, you certainly know how to make friends," Will commented before he lead us out of the arena.

A short, fat kid was waiting for us in front of the stables. If he had blue skin, I would've sworn right there that smurfs were real. He walked, or waddled, I don't really know, to the back of the stables where three beautiful Pegasus were waiting, all saddled.

"They make saddles for these guys?" I didn't even notice it this morning when I flew in, but it was actually a comfy ride.

"Oh yeah," Marcus replied. "Trust me; you do not want to ride bareback all the way to New York." We all cringed at that thought.

As we mounted our respective steeds, Marcus started explaining the rules for flying.

"Keep your hands and feet inside at all times. No nose-diving, barrel rolls, or excessive speeds are allowed." He told us. "And keep your seatbelt buckled at all times."

"Are we flying horses or driving sports cars?" James asked.

His Pegasus whinnied.

"Don't egg them on," Marcus said. "They have big enough egos already. Now, don't do anything stupid, and you should be fine."

"We'll try not to," Will replied. "Let's get this over with." Will gave it a nudge and his horse launched into the air, flapping its' massive wings. James followed right behind him. My Pegasus tensed, ready to fly after his friends. Then he started galloping, keeping pace with the others easily.

"Is this normal?" I shouted back at Marcus.

He shrugged. "Can't really tell with these guys," and the smurf headed back into the stables.

My Pegasus kept on galloping with his wings tucked in at his sides. It was obvious he wasn't flying anywhere anytime soon. James and Will were starting to outdistance us now, before turning into specks on the horizon. The Pegasus continued to gallop.

About twenty yards in front of us, the ground stopped. "Oh no," I tried to yank back on the reins, "you're not going to do what I think you're going…" And the Pegasus jumped off the cliff.

"No nosedives!" I screamed as we hurtled towards the ground like a rocket. "Marcus said no nosedives!" I locked my arms around his neck in a death trance and squeezed my eyes shut. He whinnied in protest, probably because I was cutting off his windpipe.

When I was certain we were going to die, he spread his wings and we skimmed over the surface at a 100 miles an hour. I could've reached out and kicked some of these rocks if I wasn't frozen in place from fear. We barrel rolled to avoid a boulder before he drifted up in behind James, catching up to the other two easily.

James looked back and noticed me holding on to the Pegasus for dear life. "Will, look," he yelled. "Aiden is afraid of heights." And he started laughing so hard he almost fell off his own horse.

Will looked back and chuckled a little. "You should let up a little Aiden. Your Pegasus is turning purple."

I relaxed my grip as we settled into a steady flight path. "I'm not afraid of heights," I corrected. "I'm afraid of maniacal flying horses." The Pegasus whinnied indignantly.

"Uh huh," James said, clearly unconvinced. "Well, we only have the next four to five hours to work through your phobias."

"A lot of time to talk," Will agreed.

Uh oh, I thought. This isn't going to be good. "You guys have something specific you want to discuss? Because I left my flash cards at home."

"Next time you decide to go off on an adventure, at least tell us first." Will said.

"Ya Aiden," James imitated Connors' voice, "don't make us waste our time."

"Shut up," I snapped. "I went to save my mom. I don't care about whatever you have to say. Nothing will change my mind about it."

"We're not mad Aiden," Will defended. "Just ask us for help next time. Because judging by the way things turned out, you could have used it."

My anger melted into guilt instantly. "Are they going to be okay? Is she going to die?"

"They were both stable when I left," Will sighed. "But it will be hard to tell if their okay until they wake up. If they ever wake up." He drifted off of his sentence.

"I wonder what she was doing there in the first place," James wondered aloud. Then he looked at me expectantly. "What was she doing there Aiden?"

"Oh, um," I tried to think fast. I hadn't told anyone that she knew about my mother, or that Bill was her father. I was pretty sure only Brady knew that, and it didn't really seem to be my place to tell anyone. "She, uh, said she had a dream," I stuttered.

Both of them saw through the lie immediately.

"A dream?" James asked.

"Yeah. That's what she told me at least." I deflected.

"Did she tell what she saw?" Will said.

"I didn't really ask. I wasn't really focused on that at the moment…" It had the ring of truth to it. But I could tell they weren't completely convinced. "So, uh, is it just me, or does that Clarisse lady hate my guts?" Anything to change the subject.

"Well when you show up with that guy, telling everybody he helped you save Gabi and Brady, you kind of threw a wrench in her plans of killing him on the spot." James answered.

"Does she do that a lot?"

"Do what?"

"Kill people on the spot," I said.

"No, not usually." Will said. "Just that guy."

"There might be a little history between the two of them," James told me.

"What kind of history?" I asked.

They looked at each other, and it was obvious they were having an argument of some sort over who was going to tell me. After a bit, James made a gesture with his fingers, which probably meant something between the two of them, and Will sighed in defeat.

"Long story short, he killed her boyfriend." He finally answered.

"That's a lot of history," I said shocked. "So she probably hates the sight of me now. Fantastic."

"Well, she definitely doesn't like you. For example, while she was talking to you in the arena, she was playing with a small piece of rope behind her back. She knotted it into a noose, looped it around her fingers, and pulled the string." Will said.

"I think that might have been symbolic," James added helpfully.

I glared at him. "Thanks for the tip James." I said.

"I would avoid going to California for the next decade or so. Might be hazardous to your health if you do." Will said. He nudged his Pegasus down, finishing our conversation.

"She didn't send us to Manhattan out of the goodness of her heart." James said halfheartedly. And he was lost in his own thoughts.

We flew over the Rockies. The Pegasus shifted every now and then for balance, but he didn't try anymore crazy stunts, which was fine by me. The mountains gave way to the foothills, which eventually gave way to the plains. Endless expanses of grass stretched in every direction.

"What did she mean?"

"What?" James seemed confused by my question.

"Clarisse told you before we left, 'Remember to tell Chiron everything this time James. He needs to know.' What did she mean?"

James took a long time before he responded. "I had a dream last night. That's why I had to come with you guys today. I needed to warn Chiron."

"Warn him of what?" I asked. James started to sweat, and I was sure it wasn't from the cool air.

"An army is marching on Olympus right now. They'll be there by daybreak tomorrow."

"Is there anything else? That's not all you saw, was it?"

"The man leading the army. It's not possible. It had to be a lie. Chiron will know what it means." James voice started to shake.

"Who was it?"

"I-I saw," he started to stutter. "It was Prometheus. One of the Titans."

He let that sink in for a while. I estimated the whole state of Nebraska passed by before either of us said anything. "But," I said. "I thought you said the Titans were defeated in the last war? Didn't that Percy guy beat them?"

"They are, o-or they were, but their back again. We can't win a war against Gaea and the Titans! We're flying straight to our deaths."

"Is Prometheus really that bad? You've dealt with armies before. What makes this one so special?"

"That's the problem. Prometheus is considered a coward by most of the Titans. And the Gods. And he is leading the army. That means…"

I thought about the dreams I had. Prometheus was a groveling, sniveling thing. He certainly wasn't the bold warrior who led the charge. "The coward is being brave enough to head straight into battle. Like he can't lose. Like he has a trick up his sleeve."

James nodded like he had come to the same conclusion. "He's called the Titan of Craftiness for a reason." And we flew on into the gathering darkness of evening.

We were flying over the Great Lakes when I had another thought. "Has this happened before? Clarisse said 'this time.' What happened last time?" I asked. Anything to keep my mind running. Sitting on the information that we were probably going to be dead in less than 24 hours wasn't helping me any.

But as soon as I asked, I immediately regretted it. His defenses went up and he replied coldly, "That's personal." And he flew his Pegasus out of earshot.

We flew over the rest of the United States in silence. From this height, you could see the destruction of every major city. Most of the buildings had been leveled; making everything look like a nuclear bomb had gone off in every city. Black patches of cooled lava covered more than half of the destruction. There was nothing left of the glory that had been the human race. Our greatest monuments, our proudest achievements, they all lay in piled heaps of waste.

None of us talked again until we reached the island of Manhattan. Will flew up next to me. "Our island fortress, in all her glory."

"Since when has Manhattan been a fortress?"

"Since the war started. As we get closer you'll be able to see it better. But for what it's worth, welcome to New York," he said sadly.

James flew over. "It looks worse than last time."

I had no idea what he meant, but I thought it was bad already. New Jersey lay wasted, and everything north of Manhattan looked the same, both covered in large splotches of black lava. But Manhattan itself looked good, a little worse for wear after being neglected for over a decade. Long Island looked like, well, a long island. Trees covered most of it, except for a small clearing on the far side. Something blue caught my eye, but it was lost a moment later in the trees. The Statue of Liberty gazed sadly across the ocean, like she knew there would never be any new immigrants for her to welcome.

"Why hasn't Manhattan been destroyed yet? All the other cities we passed have been demolished."

"The Gods power is strongest here, because Mount Olympus is here." Will answered.

I started looking around, but all I saw was skyscrapers and Central Park. A few collapsed buildings farther north, but not a mountain in sight. "I don't see any kind of mountain around here…"

"Look up," James said. "Not down."

I looked up and forgot where I was. A huge mountain peak floated up above the city, crowned by beautiful palaces and gardens and fountains and everything else magnificent. At the top, like the Jewel in the crown, stood the Hall of the Gods, polished and gleaming.

"Is that the original Mt. Olympus?" I asked, completely stunned that a huge rock had been floating above a city of 30 million and nobody thought it was important enough to mention.

"No that's still in Greece," Will said. "Where the Gods are now."

"So do you think Greece still has its' cities?"

"Probably not. Immortals have a tough time understanding 'collateral damage.'" James said.

"So…" I started.

"Greece has probably been turned to glass by now." Will finished.

"That sounds… unfortunate. So if that isn't the real Mount Olympus, what is it?" I thought I had seen some pretty weird sights, but a floating mountain certainly gave my brain an overload. I tried to figure out how it could just float there, but I decided it was too weird to even think about.

"Well its' kind of confusing. It _is_ and it _isn't _the real Mount Olympus." Will explained. If you can call that an explanation. "Some Athena camper could give a lecture all day about it, but just think of it as the Manifestation of Western Civilization." Nope. Not confusing at all.

"Um, how does that even work?"

James gave me a sympathetic look.

"Sometimes it's just best to accept that its' there and try not to think about it too much." Will said. I decided to take his advice and leave it at that.

We made a couple of passes around the island. I noticed something odd about that much development and no… "How do you guys come and go? There aren't any bridges. Do you fly everywhere?" Our Pegasus started their descent towards Central Park.

"We've destroyed all of the entrances. Lincoln tunnel is the only way in and out now, and that's laced with explosive. A single click and it will flood, sealing us off for good." Will explained. "And we collapsed all of the buildings along 96th street. No way in or out that way either."

"Nothing says 'wall' like a few toppled skyscrapers," James added. "We have an… understanding with the river gods too."

"What is that supposed to mean?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Nothing important. But if you plan on sneaking out again, you'll only have one way to go. I would try my best to avoid swimming at all costs." Will answered. I didn't argue. I had heard a couple rumors about those rivers, and I was doing just fine without three legs.

A crowd had started to gather around, waiting for us to get down already. Most of them were fidgeting nervously, as if they knew something bad was going to happen eventually and they had no idea what is was going to be.

I turned to James, whose usually happy expression was replaced by glum, and something I had come to know well recently. Regret. Ever since I had asked him about Clarisse, his mood seemed to have permanently shifted. I tried for the lightest tone I could, and gestured to the crowd gathered below us. "It looks like we're popular no matter where we go."


	13. Chapter 12

The second I stepped off the Pegasus I knew something was wrong. I knew summer was almost over and fall was around the corner, but this was like stepping down into winter. A cold wind blew through the trees of Central Park, stealing all the warmth from our bodies. The wind felt menacing, like it was trying to attack us.

A couple campers came and lead our Pegasus of in another direction. They skittered nervously, giving their handlers quite the workout. Will started off in the opposite direction and we followed him. The park seemed to be an overgrown jungle, completely out odds with the city I saw as we flew in.

We came to a lake after a short walk, which had a huge maple tree at one end, obviously hundreds of years older than the rest of the park, like it had been planted there at the beginning of time. A cluster of boulders was piled behind it, at odds with most of the carpeting of the forest floor. James noticed that I was checking out this rather out-of-place tree. A maple in a forest of pines?

"That's Hyperion's tree." James said.

"That's whose tree?"

"Hyperion's. You know, the Titan."

"That's what I thought you said." I looked at the tree like it might be filled with explosives.

"During the second Titan war, Percy and Grover turned him into a tree."

"Wait a second, they turned him into a tree? So he's still inside?" It pretty much _was_ filled with explosives.

"Oh yeah." James looked at me mischievously. "I heard if you knock on the tree, you can hear him start screaming inside."

"Don't even think about it," Will scolded.

"Oh come on!" James whined. "Just one little tap."

"We have way more important things to do right now." Will said. "Maybe if we live long enough, you can come back."

James gave the tree one more look of longing before eventually running to catch up with us. We finally broke out of the jungle and found ourselves in another one. The concrete jungle. My mom had always talked about the cities being beautiful, but I still had to catch my breath. Skyscrapers rose up everywhere, like pillars holding up the sky. The glass panes glittered like kaleidoscopes.

The streets were almost completely empty. A few people walked along about their daily lives, but it was pretty clear only a few hundred people lived here now-a-days. The humming city of 30 million was gone. And from what I heard, there weren't even that many people left in the world to fill a small city.

Deserted and abandoned shops lined the streets. Some were still open, but very few. The smell of fresh baked bread wafted through the streets, mixed with chocolate and flowers, making the place feel almost like, well, almost like home. If destiny had taken a different turn, I could see myself living here.

We finally arrived at a place called the Plaza. It had been a fancy hotel sometime in the past, but the place had become run-down. The furniture was torn and looked like it had been chewed on. The room was mostly bare now. The tapestries were gone, the walls had holes in them.

"Welcome to HQ," said Will. "You two head upstairs to the War room. I'll go find Chiron." And he headed off.

"Follow me." James led us to the elevators, where we headed up to the top floor. We stepped out into what had been a penthouse suite. A ping-pong table sat in the middle of the room. Nachos and cheez-whiz lay scattered on it.

"A ping pong table?" I asked.

"It's a tradition," James explained. "I'll introduce you to some of the cabin leaders."

The next ten minutes was a blur of faces. I honestly hoped no one expected me to remember all of them. There was a kid from Hypnos, who just nodded when James introduced us, then went back to his pillow. Clover or something. Mark from Ares, my brother. He was big African kid, with scars everywhere. He honestly looked more like Butch than me. I hoped. A pretty girl from Venus. A blonde from Apollo. A scrawny kid from Bacchus. It was honestly a lot of faces.

But it was the next face I saw that surprised me.

"Aiden, meet Steven. Steven, Aiden." He introduced us.

I asked the customary question I had asked everyone else I met. "So, who's your parent?"

Steven looked at me questioningly. He looked to James for conformation.

"I, ah, didn't actually tell him yet." James scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

Steve nodded like he expected this. He looked at me. "My parents were Laura and Maurice."

I frowned. I didn't know of any Gods named Laura OR Maurice. "Uh," I started. "Who?"

Steve just laughed. "I'm just a regular mortal. I don't have a drop of Godly blood in me."

"You mean you don't have a Godly parent?" I gaped at him. He was… Normal?

The guy just chuckled some more. "Not that I know of."

I didn't know what to think. I had just assumed that only the demigods were fighting. But then again, I guess the End of the World kind of affected everybody. I was about to ask how he had the mis-fortune to get sucked into this conflict, but just then the elevator dinged, and about 30 people stepped out of the doors. None of them looked too happy about sharing way too much personal space with each other.

James dragged me off and told Steve a hasty good-bye. He waved us off, apparently more interested in the meeting than shaking hands with another, mostly clueless demigod.

We sat around the table, which still felt a little weird to me. Deciding the fate of the world around a ping pong table with nachos and cheez-whiz. Weird tradition. More people appeared from time to time, taking their spots at the table.

The elevator doors opened and all talking around the table stopped. A woman with dark braided hair stepped out, followed by a guy with blonde hair and electric blue eyes. Even though I never met them before, I immediately knew who they were. Reyna and Jason. The praetors of Rome. I didn't know what to do. Should I salute them? Bow? Kiss their feet? I could feel the air of leadership about them. They were born for leading.

Another man rolled into the room behind them on a wheelchair. He had a beard and curly brown hair with a t-shirt saying MY OTHER CAR IS A CENTAUR. I looked at James for conformation. This was Chiron? The centaur from the stories?

By the time everyone was gathered around, there were at least forty people. One councilor for every representation, cabin or cohort, Greek or Roman. Almost every one of them was bruised and battered. "Please, everyone," Chiron said. "Make yourselves comfortable."

Nobody moved.

"Would hot chocolate make you guys feel better?" James asked. Everyone turned to look at him. He tried to melt back into his chair. I scooted away, just to make sure everyone knew I wasn't with him.

"Where's Leo?" One of the guys asked. Butch, I remembered. Don't be too impressed. I only remember him because he had a rainbow tattoo.

"Still at Bunker 9," someone answered him. "Working on one of his 'new' projects." Half of the people around the table sighed.

"What is he working on this time?" Another asked. Hecate Cabin, I think.

"Some sort of explod…"

Reyna cut him off. "Enough. We have more important things to discuss than Leo's exploding donkeys."

"Yes. We have much more pressing matters at the moment," Chiron agreed. "James if you would please."

James stood up, clearly uncomfortable with all the attention. "I see, I mean, I saw an army heading for Olympus. They'll be here by morning."

"So what?" Mark from Ares asked. "We'll kill them like last time."

"Last time, we had to drag you back to the infirmary," Brian from Mars said. "Unconscious."

These guys were apparently my brothers. I saw zero similarities.

Fighting broke out. Demigods were calling other demigods names, bringing up past injuries, favors, and a whole bunch of other stuff. I was surprised the camp wasn't fighting itself.

"Enough," Jason said, and everyone stopped talking instantly. "Let him finish."

"What else is there to tell? Even if an army was coming, Gaea knows she can't get across the rivers. I don't think she is willing to test that theory out again." Ryan said. Second in command to Gabi, from Athena. There was some murmuring of agreement.

"Gaea isn't leading this army," Will said. "Prometheus is."

The whole penthouse erupted into chaos. Everyone started shouting, trying to drown out everyone else. Nacho's and cheese started flying, and I heard a couple fights break out. The makings of an organized army. Chiron was yelling, but he couldn't be heard over the roar.

Insult and curses started to replace everything. Some of the demigods had murderous looks on their faces. Even the startling news that the Titans had returned hadn't been enough to make these people forget that they hated each other. If someone didn't do something soon, it would soon dissolve into a fight, and almost everyone present was armed. Then the proverbial pin dropped.

Will and James had jumped into the fray, trying to stop the inevitable. A few more level headed people were doing the same, but nobody seemed to care. Even the people trying to stop the fighting looked like they were about to pick up a sword themselves. Something had to be done.

I jumped on the table, making as much noise as possible, and slammed my sword straight into the wood. "QUIET!" I screamed.

I was almost completely ignored. I managed to startle a couple of the people closest to me, but they went back to fighting almost immediately.

Lightning crackled in the night outside, shattering the windows. Thunder shook the building. As soon as the last plane of glass had fallen, the wind whipped through the penthouse, blowing everyone to the floor. I had to flatten myself against the table and hang on to my sword to avoid being sucked out into open air.

The wind started to die. I looked up and I noticed everyone was staring around murderously. They wanted to continue their fight, but there was something stopping them. They were afraid to. That's when I made the mistake of looking at Jason. He was holding a pretty big golden spear that I was sure hadn't been there before. His eyes were fixed on me, burning an electric blue, fueled by pure anger. Even Ares eyes seemed tame compared to his right now. I just hoped he didn't hold a grudge against me for nearly chopping his table in two.

I pulled my sword out and went back to my spot, feeling the eyes of fifty people staring at me. I felt dizzy as I jumped down from all the unwanted attention and turned back towards the table. People starting brushing themselves off. I looked around and counted 3 broken bones, a lot of small cuts, and about 800 more bruises. I wondered as I gazed around how many of the old wounds had come from monsters, and how many of them had come from each other. I looked to the other end of the table to see another scene unfolding. A few people who had been able to resist the danger in Jason's were already watching in awe and horror.

Reyna and Ryan were staring at each other with hands on their swords, daring the other to make the first move. The rest of the room turned deadly silent.

"Ryan," Chiron pleaded, "lower your sword."

Ryan glanced at him for a second, but it was already too late. Reyna attacked, and everyone was too stunned to move. Ryan, distracted, was an easy target. Reyna pounced on him, and before I could even blink, had her sword pressed dangerously far into his neck.

"Do not challenge my leadership again." Reyna hissed.

"Why should I follow you?" Ryan seethed with hatred. "Either of you?! Rome was a power hungry war machine. It still is. You destroyed our cities, wiped out our legacy, and stole our Gods. You spit on everything the Greeks had ever done out of your jealousy. If I had been in control, I would have destroyed your petty little city before you even had the chance to build even one of your so called 'magnificent' buildings."

"But you aren't in control." Reyna dug the blade into his chest. "_I am._"

"No I'm not," Ryan agreed. "But I will be. I challenge you Reyna, Praetor of the Twelfth Legion, to the right to lead this city. YOU declared war on us, YOU attacked our camp, our home, and now YOU expect us to roll over and be your servants. But I swear on my life, not this time."

There were a few minutes of silence, as the meaning of what Ryan had just said started to dawn on the people present. Then all at once, like they had rehearsed it, there was a collective gasp, immediately followed by another round of shouting.

Lightning boomed outside, closer this time, before the shouting could get out of control.

"You can't do that!" One of the Romans said.

"Oh yes I can." Ryan looked at the guy who talked. A kid from Bacchus, Michael. "I have every right to. You should look up the rules of our…" He looked at every Roman in the room like they were a piece of dirty laundry he had thrown out weeks ago, "…agreement." He tossed his sword on the table. "You may choose the weapons and the time," and stormed into the elevators before disappearing behind the doors.

A figure I hadn't noticed before stood up in the corner of the room, making her way to the table. The first thing I noticed about her was that she had apparently painted Van Gogh's Starry Night. On her pants. She had piercing green eyes, which were staring intently at me. They second I locked eyes with her, I could tell she already knew why I was here, even though no one had even mentioned me yet. Her frizzy red hair seemed to have grown wild over the last few years, but I didn't stare at it very long. I kept going back to her jeans, with their decoration. What?

"Well," she commented casually, as if she had just watched a friendly tennis match. "That went pretty good, don't you think?" She winked at me.

"Umm," I started.

"Rachel," Jason said, "do you have something to say?"

"As we were talking about before," Reyna cut in. "We have an army to deal with. We must be prepared to deal with them."

"We're already prepared," Brain rolled his eyes. "We've been doing this for a long time. The fact that Prometheus is leading this doesn't change a thing. We all know he escaped the Titan War. Is anyone really surprised he's sided with Gaea?"

"This was to be expected. It would happen sooner or later," Chiron agreed.

There were some murmurings of agreement.

"Can we go to now?" Clover asked. "I'm sleepy."

"You're always tired Clovis. I'm surprised you even made it to the meeting," someone replied. A few laughs echoed around the room.

"Almost," Chiron said. "We have one more thing to discuss. Will has returned to us successfully."

"Who is it this time?" There were quite a few more laughs.

"Excuse me?" I was stunned. "This time?"

"Ah," the guy sighed. "I should've known it was the newbie. Are you sure he is the right one? How much do you bench press?"

"I…" I looked to James for help. "What?"

"Kevin from Kratos. God of Strength." He whispered.

"'Cause the last Son of Ares Will brought back," Kevin continued, "Wasn't very impressive."

"Hey!" Mark yelled indignantly. "Watch it!"

"Oh," Kevin said non-chalantly. "Didn't see you there."

"You'll see me when I break your..." Mark started.

Chiron stamped his hoof. "Enough. We have had enough fighting for one day." He glared pointedly at Reyna. "Now we must assume that Aiden here…"

"He's the one." Rachel interrupted.

"How can you tell?" Reyna asked.

"She's already spoken to you correct?" Rachel asked me, ignoring Reyna's question. "Hera."

"I, uh, yes. Um ya, she did. How did you know that?" I stuttered. Will looked at me knowingly.

She smiled at me. "I'm the Oracle. It's my business to know things." Rachel flashed Reyna an _I told you so _look. "And since Hera has chosen you, it would be time to hear your Prophecy."

She spread her arms, closed her eyes, and looked up at the ceiling. Everyone held their breaths. One second. Two seconds. Three seconds.

"Does this happen oft.."

Rachel head whipped towards the sound of my voice. Her eyes snapped open, completely encased in green. Green fog started pouring out of her mouth, rolling across the floor, loosely forming into the figures of snakes. When she spoke, three voices were talking.

"_The Son of War shall delve into endless Darkness._" I wanted to bolt right there. Run. Jump out the window. Something. She sounded eerily close to the way my mother sounded when Gaea had possessed her. But her eyes froze me to the spot.

"_The Owl and the Sea shall be set free, Those that failed shall rise again, The Mother of all shall return, While Time itself shall be forever destroyed._"

Rachel collapsed, and two Apollo kids ran to catch her.

"Did she just give me a prophecy?" I asked, confused.

Hannah from Venus snorted. "Yes, dumbo. She just gave you your quest."

"Wait up. That didn't sound like a prophecy to me," James defended. "It didn't rhyme at all. They usually do."

"Usually. Not always," Will corrected.

"_The Son of War shall delve into endless Darkness._" I repeated. "Should I be worried?" The only answer I got was a bunch of sympathetic looks from the people seated around the table. "I'll take that as a yes." I whimpered.

"Well, that could only be one place," Kevin said. "The Underworld."

"I hear that place is nice this time of year," James put in.

"Or Tartarus," Brain added. Oh joy, I thought. Even better.

"_The Owl and the Sea shall be set free._" Will mused. "That wouldn't be…"

"Enough," Chiron cut him off. "It is late and we will need our rest for tomorrow. Everyone, to bed." I saw something shift behind him. I strained my neck, trying to get a better look. Will saw me looking past him and turned. Jason noticed us staring at the wall and looked. He tensed almost instantly.

"What in Hades does he think he is doing here?" He hissed.

"What in Nico does he think he is doing here?" James reminded him. "It's 'What in Nico does he think he is doing here now'."

"Don't correct me." Jason glared daggers at James.

James put his hands up in surrender. "If I don't, he will."

The shadows behind Will melted together, until a guy was standing there, dressed in all black. I mean all black. Black ripped jeans, black jacket with skulls decorated on it. He wore a skull ring on one hand, and on the other was a ring that looked almost like a key. Compared to the black clothes, he was extremely pale, like a corpse that had just recently died.

Jason had intimated me when he walked into the room, but this guy was way more powerful. His presence seemed to permeate the air around him. An aura of death surrounded him, and he dominated the room in a second.

Jason drew his sword, pointing it straight at the new guy's chest. "What do you think you're doing here? I told you I never want to see your face again! You're the reason she's dead!"

"I'm sorry Jason, but we've had this discussion before. I wasn't looking at who I picked up. We didn't have a lot of time! I just choose at random!"

"You should have choose her!" Jason was in his face now. "Not me!"

"Jason, that is quiet enough," Chiron said firmly, but Jason ignored him.

"If I ever see your face again, on my honor, I will kill you." He stormed out of the room, quite literally, and jumped out of the broken window. From ten stories up.

"Wish I was a son of Jupiter," James grumbled.

"What the Hades was that about?" I demanded.

"What the Nico," the new guy corrected.

"Moving on," Chiron butted in, desperate to regain control of the conversation. "It is nice to see you again Nico, but if I might be so bold as to ask why you are here?"

"I was listening in on your conversation." Nico explained. "I heard someone needed help with their quest? A guide through the Underworld?"

"Well," I started. "I don't think I have a map for the place…"

"And why do you think you can help?" Reyna had her hand on her own sword again.

"You don't think I know the way around?"

"I was thinking of more like why should we trust you?" Reyna snapped.

"Because I'm on your side. I have been since the beginning."

"You've been nothing but shady from the beginning."

"I found the Doors of Death. I lead them straight to it!"

"And look how well that turned out!"

"That wasn't my fault!"

"Shut up, both of you!" I yelled. Reyna and Nico both went quiet. I hurried before they could start yelling at me, "How do you know the way through the Underworld?"

Nico looked at me, and started to crack up. He bent over, clutching his stomach, laughing. When he was finally able to speak again, he looked at me with a dark twinkle in his eyes, "Because I'm the King of the Underworld now."


	14. Chapter 13

I didn't know what to say. I was stunned. Where was Hades? Who would be crazy enough to put a teenager in charge of Death? My mom would have a heart attack if I tried to cook dinner. I could imagine what she would think if I tried running the Underworld.

James nudged me. "Aiden? You're going to catch some flies if you don't close your mouth."

"I… He.." I stuttered.

"What's wrong with him?" Someone asked. I didn't know who it was. I couldn't really wrap my head around what was going on at the moment.

"I think he might be in shock." James said. He poked me in the cheek. "Is this what shock looks like?"

"Not even close," Will told him.

"How is he, I thought Hades was the King of the Underworld?" I surprised myself. I had made a complete sentence.

Nico shifted nervously on his feet. "Hades isn't really himself right now. Someone had to take over when he went, uh…"

"Went psycho?" Marcus tried to be helpful.

"Nah, he was already psycho to begin with." Brain said. "Real nut case."

"Ya," Nico agreed. "He was."

Chiron spoke up. "Well, since Aiden has received his quest, he may pick two companions. As I see Nico has already volunteered…"

"Does he even count as a camper? I mean, he's not exactly one of us." Kevin pointed out. Nico gave him a hard glare. I could tell he didn't like the whole _not one of us _thing.

"I choose Will and James," I said before anyone else could say something about it. "They've been with me so far."

Will looked at me for a few seconds. "I'll do my best to keep you from being eaten."

"Of course. Just remember, if we're getting chased by monsters…" James started.

"Ya ya ya," I sighed.

"You're tripping us. We've heard it a million times." Will finished.

Chiron looked unsure about it, but he looked at me and knew I wasn't going to change my mind. "It would seem that the quest is decided. James and Will shall accompany Aiden down into the Underworld. Let us hope you do not become permanent members." And Chiron concluded the council. "And may the Gods, we hope, be with you."

James showed me to empty hotel room. "I got you the masters' suite," he puffed up his chest a bit. "Enjoy yourself."

I stepped into the room. A small kitchen led into a bedroom, with a huge mattress propped against the wall. On the other side of the room sat a TV, even though what channels you could get in the middle of the apocalypse, I had no idea. Hopefully they didn't keep playing reruns of the Jersey Shore.

"It looks… nice?" I said. I pulled my foot up, eyeing the sticky floor.

"Housekeeping is kind of behind a little bit." He said. I looked at the bottom of my shoe, worried that it might start dissolving. "Don't worry, it's just soda." He assured me.

I walked in and set my stuff on the floor. Out the window was a view of Central Park. It was eerie in the darkness, like something monstrous was ready to burst out of the woods any second. The trees had grown wild, uncared for and unkempt.

I threw my sword on the table and rummaged around in the fridge, before I noticed that it was the same temperature as the room. The expiration date on the small bottle of milk read nine years ago. I figured even a Hydra would die from drinking it.

"So that was an interesting Council meeting." I commented before dropping the milk out the window.

"Oh that?' He sounded surprised. "I wouldn't say that was any more interesting than usual."

"Wait, that was considered normal?" I asked in disbelief.

He just shrugged. "Ya. You should've seen them when the news was broken that we ran out of ice cream. Mass hysteria resulted."

"What? Over ice cream?"

"Oh ya. Man that was a good fight. Now that I think of it," he rubbed his head in thought. "They fight over just about anything. Hmmm."

"How did Nico become King of the Underworld? I don't think you can just fill out an application for the position." I trailed off.

James was pulled out of his thoughts. "What? Oh. Ya, I have no idea. I assume it has something to do with the Doors of Death. But I don't really know how all that stuff works."

"The Doors of Death? That doesn't sound pleasant."

"Let me tell you, it's not. Not pleasant at all."

James started lounging around the place. He picked up the remote and pointed it the TV. It turned blue, before playing a show called Little Einstein's. James immediately turned it off.

"We'll have to be up at dawn." He tried to sound casual.

I sighed. "You can take the couch."

"Awesome." He ran over and did a belly flop on it, causing it to creak noisily. I was sure it probably woke up everyone. I turned off the lights, told James good night, and crawled into bed. I thought I was wired, but the second my head hit the pillow I fell asleep.

My dream this time wasn't scary or foreboding. I had almost forgotten what it was like to not be completely frightened of going to sleep.

I was lying down in a bed of grass on top of a hill. A sign at the bottom of the hill next to the road read Brownstead. We were staring up at the night sky, on the edge of a small town. It could have been any hill in a small town in the Midwest, but this one was special somehow.

"This is where I was born," my mother told me. "I grew up in this place."

"They considered this place a town?" I looked down at the buildings. Maybe a few hundred people lived here. I had seen old schools that tortured more kids than this place.

My mom gave me a small nudge, but I could tell that she trying hard not to smile. "Yes, it was a town. A small one, but it was still home for me. This is where my journey started." She got a sad look in her eyes. "And this is where my journey will end."

I sat up quickly. "Whoa. What do you mean 'end'?"

She tried to give me a reassuring smile, but I wasn't really reassured. "All things will come to an end. Even those things have been around forever will eventual give way to something new. It is the nature of the world. Can you name the constellations I showed you?"

"I, uh, well. There's Hercules, and Sagittarius the Centaur. And Orion." I pointed out the rest, even though I had no idea what this had to do with 'endings'.

"And what are they made out of?"

Easy question. "Stars."

"Yes, and those stars are millions of years old. Older than anyone can imagine. But they will die, and from their remnants, something new will be born." She stared up at the sky.

I laid back down, completely confused. "I don't know what you mean."

My mom sighed. "Neither do I honey. I just know it was something I had to tell you. But remember something. You will always have my blessing."

I looked at her. "Your blessing?" My brow furrowed. "I don't understand."

"You will someday Aiden." She rummaged around in the bag. She pulled out a hardback, our Mythology book. "Now, which story do you want to hear?"

I thought about it for a little. "Is Achilles in there?"

She smiled liked I had just solved a hard puzzle. "Yes. Yes he is."

The dream faded to black. When I was finally able to make out something, I could still see my mom. I reached out to touch her face, to know she was alive and that everything was okay. But my hand passed through her like I was a ghost. When she opened her eyes is when I realized. This wasn't a memory. I was watching Gaea.

She stood in the middle of a bleak landscape, with nothing but black sand around her. She stood on top of a hill. Behind her, at the bottom of the hill, were things I couldn't make out. They were moving around, preparing for something.

"Stop fighting me, Catherine. It is fruitless." She rasped in pain. "This body will be mine, one way or another."

"_NO!" _My mother screamed. "_You will not hurt me, and you will most certainly not harm him!_"

"Your will is strong, but you cannot fight me forever. We have been connected since you were born. Your gift of true sight was once mine, and it will be mine again!" Gaea took a shaky step forward.

"This gift is a curse." My mother cried out. "I saw the death of my own son."

"Apollo shall pay for his thievery." Gaea continued. "Delphi was once the center of my power, guarded by Python, the strongest of his kind. Apollo sought fame and fortune, murdering my guardian, and stealing the power of Delphi for his own. The God of Oracles is a fraud."

My mother grabbed her head in pain. "No, I will not let you see them. You will never access this curse." Her eyes flung open. They were normal. My mom looked around desperately, trying to figure out where she was.

Her eyes molded again, turning pure brown. Gaea was quick to take control again. "It is too late. I am already in control." She closed her eyes, concentrating. When she opened them again, they were filled with hate. "Kleimos!" She yelled.

A small sniveling _thing _ran up the slope. I guess it had been a man during sometime in his life, which had obviously been millions of years ago. His skin was papery and yellow, stretched thin over the bones beneath. "Y-yes?" he chattered.

"Launch the assault. We must reach the throne room before Death's brat gets here."

"B-but," he started, "we're not…"

"Enough! Get me to that statue. Or you will never know peace."

"Yes Gaea." He backed off, before turning and running down the hill.

"So the Son of Death wishes to meet his own." And Gaea descended down the hill.

James woke me up at the crack of dawn. I rolled over and went back to sleep. Would it kill anyone to sleep in a little?

He walked off for a second, before coming back and dumping water in my face. I launched out of bed like a rocket. "What in the Hades was that for?" I glared at him.

"Nico," he corrected. "And you should've woken up the first time. You saw what we do to Connor."

I wiped off my face. "That wasn't cool. Not cool at all."

He put his hands up, trying not to laugh. "Sorry." He threw my pack at me. "We need to get going. I already packed your stuff. Well, all that you had anyway." I got ready and we walked out the hotel.

We reached the lake. Dawn had just broken, casting red and orange light across the lake. There were a couple of demigods running around the lake, like they were working out. They must have been crazy. Who gets up at dawn willingly?

I checked out the giant maple tree. I still didn't understand how you could trap a Titan in a tree. I'd chopped wood before, and it wasn't that hard, and I wasn't a supernatural, all-powerful being. Couldn't he just will himself out? Not that I'm complaining though.

James came over to look at the tree. "Whoa." He looked surprised.

I looked at him, then back to the tree. "What?" I didn't see anything abnormal with it. Well, if you considered a trapped Titan inside normal. We did. Welcome to our world.

"It's glowing. Did you touch it?" He reached out tentatively.

"No..." I looked closer and noticed it was glowing, very faintly. I hadn't noticed in when we came in. I backed up, pulling James with me. "We should probably leave it alone."

He gave me a pouting look. "C'mon! Just one little tap."

The demigods who were running around the lake came close. They gave the tree a wide berth. There was something not right about it.

"I don't think that would be a good idea." I told him, before dragging him off.

We walked off from the lake, trying not to break out into a full retreat. We stopped at the pile of boulders I had noticed when we first came in. They gave me the creeps. I could smell the mossy, grungy smell of the earth. I immediately felt claustrophobic looking at them.

Chiron trotted over. He wasn't in his wheelchair anymore; he towered over me. In fact he was the tallest one around. I wondered how he even fit in a wheelchair.

"Well Aiden, I do wish you luck on your journey." Chiron said. "A piece of advice before you go. You will see much despair, but remember one thing: there is always hope."

I looked at him. I didn't know how to respond to that. "I… I don't get what you mean."

"Tartarus is a horrible place. It is literally the darkest place anywhere in the world. The Spirit of Tartarus is a malicious force, eager to bring you to despair and helplessness." The morning became colder. Wind blew through the trees, bringing the whisper of evil. "It will pierce your mind with visions of cruelty, and attempt to plunge you over the brink of madness." He looked sadly at the rocks.

"You're a real beacon of sunshine aren't you?" I said sarcastically.

James looked like he was going to be sick. "I really wish I hadn't heard any of that." He said softly.

Chiron gave me a sad look. "I wouldn't wish your fate on anyone." He mumbled.

I perked up instantly. "My fate? What do you know about my fate?"

He looked surprised. He obviously hadn't meant for me to hear him. "I've said too much already."

Will appeared from the trees. "You guys ready to…"

"What do you know about my fate?" I demanded, getting into Chiron's face as best as I could. He was decidedly taller than I was. "Why are you all keeping secrets from me!"

"It is for your own good," Chiron defended. "Knowledge is not always a good thing. You more you know about your fate, the more you will try to change it."

"That's not for you to decide." I yelled. I started towards him, ready to get the truth out of him, one way or another. Will and James grabbed me by the shoulders and yanked me back. "Who are you to decide what is best for me!" I continued to struggle against them. "Why should I trust you if you're keeping secrets from me?"

"You have no reason to trust me Aiden. I only ask that you try." Chiron pleaded.

"And why should I do that?"

Will wrestled me to the ground. "Because we're your friends Aiden." He told me. "And that's what friends do."

"We are going to our almost certain deaths to help you." James added helpfully. "That's got to count for something."

"That's about as close to a bright side as you can get here." Will slackened his grip. I got up slowly, brushing the dirt of my clothes. Will gave me a wary look. I turned on them, walking off before I got angry again. I heard Chiron give Will and James a farewell.

Next to the rocks, Nico was having an awkward conversation with a satyr. He was about the same height as Nico, with a scruffy brown goatee. He wore a faded blue t-shirt that as far as I could tell read TGO OHVOES? The thing that grabbed my attention though was the Rasta cap that he wore. It seemed somewhat, uh, out-of-place.

He noticed me come over, stopping mid-sentence. "Hi," he said.

"Uh, hi," I replied awkwardly. "Come around here often?"

"Well," the satyr replied, "I am a Lord of the Wild."

"So…" I drabbed.

He just shook his head. "Yes, I do come around here quite a bit."

Will and James walked over.

"Hey Grover. How's it going?" Will greeted.

"You, know, the usual. Almost dying, getting eaten, being threatened constantly." He sighed. "Always the same thing."

"You mind opening the door?" Nico asked.

"Door?" I looked around. "There's no door here."

"It's the Door of Orpheus." James said. "Can only be opened by music." He pointed to the rocks.

"The rocks are the door?" I looked them over. "How do you open rocks?"

James shrugged. "Orpheus was kind of like an ancient Rock-star." I could almost hear the ba-dum-tiss echo in his mind at the horrible joke. James looked around expectantly.

"The one with the lyre?" I asked.

"Yep." Will confirmed.

"Didn't he die?"

"Yep."

"Great. Can't wait."

"Just like old times." Grover commented, before pulling out his reed pipes. The song he played was lively, full of life and beauty, completely at odds of where we were going.

"Nothing ever changes," Nico agreed sadly, and lead the three of us down into the darkness.


	15. Chapter 14

We popped into the cave, one by one, crowding into the cramped darkness. No sooner had I gotten inside that a war horn pierced the quiet air, ringing in my ears. I had heard a horn that sounded all too familiar to that one in California. The memory made me shudder with fear.

Grover faltered. The music stopped. I glanced back, hoping to see some glimpse of what was going on, but all I got was a mouthful of dirt as the rocks collapsed back to their positions, nearly crushing me. It took a couple tugs to get my backpack unwedged, and when I did, I could hear a small rip tear through it.

James voice echoed up from the dark stairwell. "Don't let the door hit you on the way in."

I shot him a glare, though I couldn't see much more than the walls on either side of me. "If you weren't so slow, it wouldn't have been a problem."

"Not my fault I can't see a thing in here." He defended.

"You have the flashlight James," Will sighed. "It's in your hand."

"Oh," James said sheepishly. There were a couple clicks as James turned it on, examining the walls with the light. "Cheery place," he announced.

"It's the Underworld," Will told him. "It's not supposed to be cheery."

"I'm just saying, a couple flowers here or there wouldn't hurt," James mumbled.

Up ahead, our guide shuddered. "Come on," Nico said finally. "We need to get going." And he walked on confidently.

The rest of us didn't have such an easy going time. I had to watch each step carefully, trying not to slip on the mossy, wet stone. Nico forged on ahead, apparently not giving us a second thought. It wasn't long before he disappeared into the gloom, leaving the three of us to slowly pick our way down the stairs.

"Great," James said. "Now who's going to catch me when I fall?"

"You can't be going any slower. I will push you if you don't hurry up," Will threatened.

I looked back, hoping to judge how far we had come. All I could see was a wall of blackness, and I could feel it creeping closer, closing in on me. "Ya," I said, "If we could hurry up, that would be great."

"Why Aiden?" James teased. "Afraid of the dark?"

I locked my eyes forward, trying not to think about all the scary things with sharp claws that might pop out at any moment and take me away. "Yes," I said simply. "I am."

"Me too," James agreed and we picked up the pace, half running and half stumbling down the rest of the stairs.

It was only a couple minutes later when we tumbled out of the stairway. I face planted onto the black volcanic sand.

"Ooof!" James tumbled out behind me, rolling out across the sand. He sat up, rubbing his head. "Can we please take the easy way next time?" He gingerly touched his ribs, wincing the second his hand touched his shirt. "Stairways seem to be hazardous to my health."

Will strolled out casually, shaking his head. "That's what happens when you panic and run down the stairs. You're lucky enough you didn't stab yourself with your own sword."

James huffed. "I feel so blessed." He collapsed back into the sand.

I spit the sand out of my mouth and stood up. "Next time you decide to pull me down with you, don't. Sand just isn't that tasty." I clenched my teeth. My body cringed as I felt the sand cracking between my teeth, causing me to shake like a wet dog. I grabbed desperately for my water bottle to rinse out my mouth.

"That bad huh?" Will asked, and started to laugh.

I cringed again at the thought. "I hate that feeling of biting sand. I think I'd rather get eaten again."

James just moaned, still rubbing his rib. "Getting eaten doesn't sound that bad right now."

"Come on, we need to catch up with Nico. You guys don't want to get on that kids bad side." Will said. "And I certainly don't feel like getting lost down here." Will took in his surroundings, before he moved off down the beach.

I gazed around, taking in the landscape. A silver river rushed out from the rocks to my right, cascading down the rapids, before eventually calming down and cruising along out of sight. Off to the left, black walls ran along the horizon, fires burning on the ramparts.

"The Walls of Erebus," James stood in awe. "The kingdom of Hades. I was really hoping I would never have to see it in person. "

"Everyone dies," I sighed, remembering last night's dream. "Nothing lasts forever."

"I know. I was just hoping that I wouldn't have to see it until, you know, I _died_." He explained.

"Oh," I said quietly. "I… I knew that."

James gave me an odd look before heading off after Will. I took a last look at the Walls, silently hoping that I wouldn't see them again for a very, very long time.

When we caught up, Will was standing at the edge of the water next to Nico, who appeared to be fishing with his sword, glinting black in the water. After a long couple of moments he picked something out of the water. I walked closer to get a better look.

It had been a pistol at one point, but it looked like it had sat in the river for ages. Rust covered almost every inch of, and part of the barrel had eroded away. Nico flipped it over in his hands. I jerked back. The other side of the pistol was perfect, like it had just come off of the factory line. But I didn't pay much attention to that. I recognized it as the one that had been pointed at me not even two days ago.

My senses went on high alert. If that pistol had been left here, that meant Smoky had been here recently. I wasn't anxious to see him again anytime soon.

"Whoa," James said, walking over to Nico's side. "What kind of gun is that?"

"Its' a six shooter," Will told him. "Looks like an old one too."

Nico sighed unhappily. He tossed it back into the river. "It's just another broken dream." He stood up. "Nothing important anymore."

James looked at the water hopefully. "Think the Universe would mind if I took that 'broken dream'?"

"What would you do with a gun?" Will asked.

James shrugged. "I have no idea. But at least I'd have one." Will just shook his head.

I walked over. "What do you mean by 'broken dream'?"

Nico gazed out across the water, filled with toys, pieces of paper, even money. "When people die, they leave everything behind. Their bodies, their possessions', and their hopes and dreams. When they cross the River Styx, they throw everything that tied them to the land of the living into the water. The only thing that's allowed into the land of the dead is their soul. They bring nothing else with them."

"So," I continued, "the person who threw this in here, they're dead, right?"

"Dead as dead can be," Nico agreed.

My muscles relaxed. I breathed a sigh of relief. Smoky wasn't going to jump out and kill me.

"At least, they were at some point in time." James said.

I felt like I had just been sucker punched. "What?"

He looked at me mischievously. "Some people have managed to come back to life. With a little help of course." He laughed. Nico stole a quick glance at him.

"That's, uh, a handy trick," I mumbled.

"Sure is," Will agreed. "Though, personally, I hope I won't need to use it again for a while."

James jaw dropped to the ground. I blinked, just to make sure my eyes weren't playing tricks on me. Even Nico let the corners of his mouth turn upward into the faintest hint of a smile.

Will put his hands up in defense. "It's just a joke guys. Just a joke."

"But…" I started.

"You don't make jokes," James finished. "That's my job."

Will frowned. "I can make a joke from time to time."

"Uh huh," James studied Will intently. "You do look a little pale…"

Will waved him off. "Anyways," he changed the subject, "we need to hash out a plan. Walking around wily nily isn't the greatest of ideas."

"We could go home," James offered. "That sounds like a great plan to me." We all stared at him.

James slouched. "I'll put that down as a maybe."

I slumped down on the sand. "What are we even supposed to be doing? The prophecy made zero sense. _The Son of War shall delve into endless Darkness_." I repeated. "I'm not even sure what that means. And don't get me started on the rest of it." I threw my hands up in disgust. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

"It's Tartarus," Nico said. "That's where you need to go."

Nico startled me. He had been so quiet and still I had nearly forgotten he was here. He seemed to blend in perfectly with the gloom.

"That's like saying we need to go to Asia," James complained. "How do we find where we need to go? Are we just going to walk across all of it until we get a fuzzy feeling?"

Will looked at Nico and a silent conversation passed between the two of them. When Will finally spoke, it was like someone had turned on the freezer full blast. "It's not so much of where we need to go," he said, "but who we need to find. There's, uh, something you guys need to, um, well, need to know." Will stumbled like the words were hard to get out.

"Kronos is alive," Nico finished for him. "And he's in Tartarus, rebuilding his forces. And we're guessing he's the reason Percy and Annabeth disappeared. "

"What?!" I shouted. "You can't be serious!" Nico looked me dead in the eye, daring me to question him. "How is that even possible? I thought Percy killed him in the Titan War?"

"You can't kill a Titan, Aiden. They are Immortal, just like the Gods." Will explained. "They'll always be around."

"But the way everyone made it sound… James even said…" I began.

"I don't know how he managed to regenerate so quickly," Nico cut in, "but it doesn't matter how. Just that he did. And now he has Percy and Annabeth."

"And how do you know he has them?" I asked. "Isn't it possible Gaea could have captured them?"

"No," Will answered. "If Gaea did have them, we would know. She would've used them as her sacrifices instead of…" Will faltered. "Well, we'd just know."

"That's infallible logic," I crossed my arms. "How do you know they're not dead?"

"I'm the King of the Underworld," Nico voice took on a dangerous edge. "I know every single person who has ever passed through here. Trust me; I'd know if Percy had died." Bitterness dripped from every word Nico spoke.

"How could you possibly know that?" I answered his tone. I didn't care who he thought he was, nobody was going to talk down to me.

"It comes with the territory."

"Well that's comforting. They're not dead because you say so." I jabbed a finger at Nico. "The all-knowing dead people person."

Nico reached for his sword. "If you'd like, I can give you a personal demonstration."

"Whoa," James jumped in between us. "We're all here for the same reason."

"And what reason is that?" I turned on him. "We don't even know what the prophecy means!"

"Aiden, calm down." Will got in my face, forcing me to look at him. "The prophecy will make sense in time. But for now we need to work with what we know. We know we need to go to Tartarus. We know that Kronos is down there. He is too important to not be involved in this. Even if he isn't, he will know who is."

"I don't care what you think you know, Will," I spat. "I have a hard time convincing myself to risk my life for two people I don't know nor care about based on 'Ifs' and 'Maybes'. How is rescuing Percy and Annabeth supposed to help us against Gaea?"

Anger poured off of Nico. At his feet, the ground started to churn, melting together into a pot of black sludge.

James immediately popped up in Nico's face. "Which flavor of Ice cream is better you think? Bubble-gum or Rocky Road?"

The question took Nico completely by surprise, distracting him from the thought that he was probably about to give me the Ghastly Treatment Deluxe. "Uh," Nico muttered, not sure what to say, "Rocky Road sounds disgusting."

Will ignored both of them, continuing to lecture me. "They led the campers against the Titans. They won the War, Aiden. _They_ did. They're possibly the greatest heroes of our time. If anyone can figure out a way to help us win this war too, it's them." Will answered calmly. He put his hand on my shoulder. "I know that you want to beat Gaea and save your mom. We all want Gaea gone. But to do that, we need all the help we can get, and I mean all of it."

I stood there, glaring Will, trying to think of something to say that wouldn't make me sound completely heartless. "Fine," I said finally and sat back down. "I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess you guys already made a plan for us."

"Uh, yes," Will shifted uncomfortably on his feet. "We're going to attack Kronos."

James spit out his water. I nearly swallowed my tongue.

"Excuse me?" James started.

"Fantastic plan," I mumbled, rolling my eyes.

"We're going to what?" James choked out. "We might as well stay here then. No need to make the journey to our death's any longer."

"What he means," Nico explained, "is that we're going to siege his castle, and while he's distracted, you three will sneak in and rescue Percy and Annabeth. You'll be long gone before he even notices."

"How are we going to do that?" I asked. "Last I checked, none of us had an army in their pocket."

"Actually," Nico's eyes glinted darkly. "I do. I _am_ King of the Underworld."

I shook my head, not at all surprised. "Let me guess, it comes with the territory," I mocked.

Nico glared at me. "Yes, it does. Any more questions?"

James raised his hand.

Nico sighed, waving for James to continue.

"Why don't we just shadow-travel in and out?" James asked. "It'd take like what, a minute? And we avoid all these hazardous, almost certainly fatal things like attacking a Titan King. I don't know if I like that specific part of the plan."

Nico just shrugged his shoulders. "I can't. Every time I have tried, I just run into the wall. Tartarus doesn't exactly play by the same rules that we do."

Will turned to look down the beach. "Well," he said, shouldering his backpack, "Now that we have a plan, we should get moving. We don't have any time to waste."

"I still vote for the 'going home' plan," James said half-heartedly. "I like that plan a lot."

"Me too," I grumbled, helping myself up. "Come on, we probably have a long way to walk."

"Go-karts man," he sighed. "They'd make this _so_ much easier."

"Walking sucks," I agreed.

Nico took charge again and blazed a trail down the beach, with Will following close behind. James and I dragged ourselves after them, neither of us very eager to get to where we were going. The river flowed on endlessly, running along at a lazy rate. Stalagmites, each at least a few dozen feet high, crisscrossed the ceiling in intricate patterns, forming their own constellations. It was pretty enough in its' own way, but I didn't know who would care that much about a pretty ceiling when they're dead. I didn't, and I wasn't even kind of dead. Yet.

Walking along the never ending beach gave me a lot of time to think. My dreams kept running through my head like a herd of Buffalo, trampling any other thoughts I had. Pictures of the Red Keep flashed through my head like a castle of nightmares. I didn't know how it was possible, but I had an unshakable feeling that I had been seeing the real deal.

If that was true, I was strolling off to get myself killed. That didn't really work into my plan of saving my mom. To tell the truth, I didn't really have a plan anyways, but I didn't think that I'd be able to work dying a horrible, gruesome death into one.

"You are not destined to die there," said a familiar voice of to my right. I didn't bother to look at who was speaking. By her voice I already knew who it was.

"Well that's comforting." I kept walking, not interested in anything Hera had to say.

"I expected more of a, reaction of sorts, from someone telling you good news." She replied curtly.

"Sorry to disappoint, but last time we talked, you tried convincing me not to go after my mom. You aren't that high on my 'want to talk to' list."

"I warned you what would happen if you continued on your quest. And now look. You're consumed with nothing else but the desire to save your mother. So much, in fact, that you either miss or, more likely, ignore the truth. You are the key to saving the world."

"Why do I have to be the key? Why not James? Or Will? Or literally anyone else other than me? I never wanted any of this. All I want is my mom and to go back to the way life used to be. When things were simple."

"You cannot deny your fate forever Aiden. Your destiny will come for you, and when it does, I can only hope you embrace it, or we will all perish."

"Don't tempt me. Not having to talk to you again sounds wonderful." I mused. "Exquisite, even."

Hera's royal nostrils flared. "I am here to help you Aiden Young! Do not patronize me!" She started glowing, causing the river water she was gliding over to boil. "If it had not been for me, you would be nothing more than a prisoner to some bandits, or dead." She raised her hand, daring me to challenge her.

I bit my tongue before I could say something stupid. I wasn't eager to keep pushing my luck. "If you're here to help, then help," I eventually snapped back. "But if you're here to just give some cryptic clue that I will never figure out, you can save your breath. I don't want it."

She chuckled cruelly, making me wonder for a second who was really the bad guy here. "After you find him, remember to take a bath."

I growled in frustration. I picked a rock up off the beach and chucked it at the Queen of Olympus, but she had already vanished, and the rock sailed harmlessly through the air, landing in the river with barely a sound.

"You want me to save your precious world!" I screamed at nothing but air. "But you refuse to give me anything I can use!" I picked up all the rocks I could hold, chucking them at the spot Hera's head used to be. "Why. Should. I. Do. Anything. For. YOU!" I launched the last rock I had. It hurtled through the air, landing on the opposite beach, creating a small explosion of sand as it buried itself into the ground. I stood there, waiting for her to reappear and blast me to dust, but nothing happened. I was disappointed.

James continued to walk down the beach, completely oblivious to the fact that I had just tried to assault a Goddess. I ran up to him and waved my hand in front of his face. He jerked back. He looked at me, his eyes slowly focusing.

"Sorry, dude," James shook his head. "Was day-dreaming. What's up?"

"You didn't hear any of that?" I asked suspiciously. "Nothing?" I arched an eyebrow.

James started to glance around, looking for anything out of place. "No? Why? Is someone attacking us?"

"Uh, no. I just thought I heard something."

"Don't worry Aiden, I never miss a thing." James crouched down, taking a couple of silent steps forward like a spy. "Nothing gets by me."

"You're real observant," I said, sarcasm dripping off the words. James glared at me for a moment before moving on.

We walked farther. Every so often we'd passed a stalagmite that had broken off from the ceiling and impaled itself in the ground, dotting the black sand with craters ten feet wide. Some had even landed next to the river, forming little eddies of circling water.

We passed by one of these puddles. I reached my foot out without thinking, kicking the water. The second my shoe broke the surface of the water, it felt like I had just stepped into a nuclear inferno. I yanked my foot back hard, throwing myself sideways into James, knocking him to the ground. I clawed my way up the beach, the sole of my shoe smoking. The smell was horrendous, like someone had just burned a truckload of old tires, mixed with a bag of onions.

I hurriedly untied my shoe. "Do not, I repeat, do NOT stick your foot in the water!" I warned, yanking off my shoe before it started melting my toes.

"Uh, Aiden," James said, trying not to laugh as he helped me up, "We already knew that. You don't go swimming in the River Styx unless you want to become a puddle of goo."

"Well thanks for sharing the info," I yanked back my arm and started dusting off my pants. "That would've been great to know _before_ I dissolved half my shoe."

James picked it up, flipping it over in his hands. "Doesn't look that bad." He took a whiff. "Phew. Smells better now, too."

I grabbed my tennis shoe out of his hands and slipped it back on. "Thanks for your opinion. I appreciate it." I mumbled.

I looked over to see where Will and Nico were, but I saw nothing in the gloom. Apparently they hadn't heard me trying to melt my leg off.

Well great, I thought. They left us behind. "Come on," I muttered. "I don't want to get stuck here."

I could feel James eyes roll in their sockets. "We're never going to get there at this pace."

"You're always so dramatic. Come on," I said, grabbing his arm and pulling him along, "let's go."

We took off at a jog, our feet pounding against the sand. Nearly ten minutes later, we still hadn't found them. I was beginning to worry that we actually had gotten lost. As far as I knew, there weren't any other rivers to follow. I had also thought that the river was made of water and nearly amputated myself, so I figured maybe I didn't know my rivers as well as I thought I did.

When we finally caught up to the other two, they were standing at the edge of the beach, staring out across the horizon. I ran over, stopping behind them. I followed their gaze over the river. A wooden barge slid into view, poled slowly along by a skeleton hooded by black robes. Where his eyes should have been was filled with nothing but inky blackness.

"What are we doing here?" I panted. "Is this our ride across?"

"No," Will answered. "Nico said he had some business to attend too." He turned around, noticing us catching our breath. "Did… Did you guys run here?"

James and I straightened up immediately.

"No…" James said sheepishly.

Nico walked up to the barge as it barreled onto the sand. "Charon," he called out. "We talked about this."

"Morning my lord." The ghoul bowed, though he clearly didn't like it. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Stop with the ignorance, Charon. You know exactly what I'm talking about." Nico marched up the ramp onto the deck. The spirits on board parted around him like water, giving him a wide berth. They started to disembark. "Give them back their money."

"I'm sorry my lord, but I don't know what you're talking about." Charon replied, putting almost no effort into making his lie believable. "Perhaps you are looking for your 'mystery man' that you care so much about?"

Nico scowled turned demonic. "I pay you more than enough to row a boat across the water. Give them back their money. _Now_."

Charon's' face morphed into a mixture of madness and rage. "Why? They do not need it anymore. You think these suits are cheap?"

"I don't care about your stupid suits. The dead deserve to be treated with respect." Nico turned and marched off, cutting the conversation short.

Charon didn't wait around. He immediately pushed the barge off the sand, nearly plunging the last dead person on the ramp into the water.

She whirled around like a snake. "Hey! Watch it, you black robed freak! You think I want to die? Again?!" My heart clenched instantly. I knew that voice. The girl spun back around. Will, James, and I gasped all at once. Standing at the edge of Erebus and threatening the Ferryman of the Dead was Miss Attitude herself.

"G… Gabi?" Will stammered. He sounded like he had just been punched in the gut. He took an uncertain step forward.

James jaw dropped to the ground. He made a couple squeaking noises that only a squirrel could understand. He picked his jaw up off the sand. "What… How… Why are you here?"

Gabi looked at both of them, completely stunned at what was happening. They all looked shell-shocked. Only Nico was acting like this was a normal thing, which it probably was for him, being King of the Dead and all.

I didn't have time to think about that though, because the second she locked eyes with me, her whole face shifted to nothing but uncontrollable rage.

"YOU!" She bellowed, and took off at a dead sprint towards me.


	16. Chapter 15

It wasn't until Gabi's fist flew into my face that my brain started to function again. Shock had frozen me to the spot. I wasn't surprised, or confused, or wondering to as way she was here. The only thing I could feel was the lead in my gut that used to be my stomach. Dread and guilt crashed down on my shoulders.

Gabi was dead. I had tried to save her, and I had ended up killing her.

I stumbled back. Blood poured out of my nose. Gabi kept wailing on me, and I did nothing to stop it. Will snapped out of his confusion first. He grabbed Gabi by the waist, trying his best to keep her contained. She struggled and squirmed, doing her best to get back to beating me up.

"You! Arrgh!" She screamed. "Let me go Will! This brat deserves everything I throw at him!" She brought her elbow down, connecting with Wills' stomach. He doubled over in pain, but still managed to keep his grip on the Whirlwind of Obliteration. Gabi screamed some more.

I put my hands up, trying to look as sorry as I felt. "I… I don't know what to say Gabi…"

"There's nothing to say!" She strained against Will some more, but he held tight.

"Gabi calm down!" Will yelled, trying to get her attention. "Everything will turn out fine!"

She turned on him venomously. "Fine? FINE? You cannot be serious Solace!" She jabbed a finger in my general direction. "That little twerp killed me! And you're defending him!?"

Will let her go, which I couldn't tell was a good or bad thing. Gabi focus turned on him, and I wasn't sure who was about to get the shish-kebob treatment first, me or Will.

Gabi's' hand went to grab the sword at her waist, only to realize she didn't have anything but the clothes on her back. Will took a couple cautionary steps back anyway. James stood off to the side in the same spot he had been, being completely unhelpful. He gazed at the three of us, unable to do anything but watch.

Nico seemed to have watched all he wanted. He strolled over, like he was about to break up a schoolyard fight.

"Gabi, I…" I fumbled over the words, unsure how to continue. After a moment, I decided to go with the simplest thing I could. "I'm sorry."

Gabi glared at me. Ares, even Jason, seemed like cute little kittens compared to her right now. Her eyes swirled, no doubt wondering just how she would like to kill me. I tried to melt into the sand. Getting her attention while she was no longer restrained didn't seem like such a good idea now.

"Sorry?" Gabi tripped over the words like I had just started speaking a foreign language to her. "You're… You're _sorry_?" She glanced from side to side, trying to decipher exactly what just came out of my mouth. "You killed me, _and you're sorry?_"

She marched towards me, and I had the sudden urge to bolt. Running away like a scared mouse would have only made it worse though.

She was only a couple steps away when Nico put himself between us. I silently thanked the all the Gods for his abundance of courage. Hopefully he could stop me from becoming mince-meat.

"Nico," she huffed indignantly. "Please tell me he is already dead."

"Ahh," Nico glanced nervously back at me. Scratch that last bit about courage. "No. He isn't." Nico fidgeted with his skull ring, twisting it on his finger. It seemed like there was more he was going to say, but Gabi didn't give him the chance.

"Then get out of the way Di Angelo! I'm going to fix that real fast."

Will and James had backed off, knowing better than to get themselves involved. I wished I could hide with them.

Gabi moved to step around Nico, but he blocked her path. "He actually needs your help."

I didn't know which of us was more dumbfounded, myself or Gabi.

"He _what?_" Disbelief and anger flashed across her face.

"I do?" I didn't believe my ears. My brain took a couple seconds to process exactly what that meant. "Wait, you want to bring her with us? She just threatened to kill me!"

"It wasn't a threat," she warned. "I meant it."

"See?" I pointed accusingly at her. "I would very much appreciate to not have anybody else along that wants me dead. There are already enough things out there trying to kill me. I don't need her too!"

Nico expression turned icy. "This isn't a debate. She _is_ going to help you."

Gabi's gaze towards Nico was deadly, and I thought she was going to strangle the King of the Dead on the spot. What she did was even more surprising. She agreed with me. "I am not going anywhere with him." Gabi glared at me like an old patch of monster sludge. "And I am certainly not helping with his stupid quest."

Gabi spun on her heel and marched after the rest of the people who had gotten off the barge, all heading to a place that looked something like an airport security headquarters.

"Gabi, wait," James started, but the daughter of Athena just blew him off and marched past. Will just watched her go.

"Gabi. I need you to help them." Nico called after her. She didn't miss a step, completely ignoring Nico. "You're the only one who knows where they are."

Gabi hesitated. "I don't need to do anything." She looked back, making sure I knew just how much she despised my very existence. "And especially not for the punk who held a sword to my throat."

Nico expression turned pained, like he was regretting what he was about to do. "You promised, remember?" His hands fidgeted even more now, and I noticed he was turning the ring on his other hand, the one that looked like a key. "You swore an oath on the River Styx."

I had no idea what that meant, but judging by the expression on both Will and James' faces, it was serious. They looked like they had just watched Gabi step off Charon's Ferry again. Behind me, the river churned and boiled, like the water knew it had just been discussed. I wonder if I was safe standing this close to it, or if a jet of liquid acid would shoot up and melt me into goo. Probably would've been an easier way to go out than whatever Gabi had planned for me.

The words hung in the air. The atmosphere turned to fractured glass, and no one was willing to make a move, afraid they might be the ones to break it.

Gabi had stopped dead in her tracks. Her fists balled at her sides. Even from here, I could see the knuckles turn ghostly white. Her head twitched, like she was arguing with herself, debating just how much trouble she would get in for turning her back on her oath.

After an eternity, Gabi's shoulders slumped. Her hands let themselves go out of their own stranglehold. In the quiet gloom, her exasperated sigh echoed across the darkness.

"This," she waved her hand across her body, like she was gesturing to the world, and not just the four demigods standing in front of her. "This is what you're calling in your favor for?"

Nico straightened, confident. "Yes. This is it. You know how to get through the Keep. And this is our last chance."

Gabi sagged in defeat. I looked at Will and James, hoping either of them had an explanation for what happened, but they both looked just as dumbfounded as me.

"I'm not doing this willingly," Gabi told Nico. "And certainly not to help Aiden."

Nico glanced off to the side, anxious to avoid Gabi's eyes. "I know," he said quietly.

I cleared my throat, trying not to be too obvious in my attempt to get everyone's attention. "Um, what about the part when she wanted to kill me? Because I feel like we kind of just glossed over that one."

Gabi still looked at me like I was still the scum of the Earth, but not with the same ferocity. She had lost the energy to do anything about killing me. The effort didn't seem worth it to her anymore. The will just wasn't there.

"I don't think that will be a problem." Will turned to Gabi with concern. Like she was the one in danger. I did a little 'humph' to myself.

"No," she sighed. "I won't deliberately harm him."

Will nodded like this was a great step in the right direction. I was utterly un-convinced, but no one seemed to be paying attention about my personal well-being. James looked minorly sympathetic, but I could tell he was still trying to swallow everything that had unfolded.

Nico had started to drift off into the shadows. He kept his eyes to the ground, trying to avoid any contact, but I managed to catch his gaze. All I saw was shame, like he wasn't proud about what he just did. I had no idea why. I narrowed my eyes at him, letting him know I was onto his secret. Panic flashed across his face.

"Well, now that we got all that out into the open, we should keep moving." Will continued.

"Ya," James agreed, _finally _snapping out of his trance. "Would hate to miss our own party."

"I wonder if they'll have anything to eat down there," I wondered aloud, not really expecting to get an answer.

"We're probably the main course," Will replied glumly. "C'mon." He grabbed Gabi, urging her to move along with him.

If it had been possible, the groups' mood would have sunk even lower. Will and Gabi shuffled along in the front. He was speaking in hushed tones to her, but she seemed to hardly be listening. I figured he was trying to get her spirits up, but she either didn't care about or didn't want Will's sympathy.

Nico was only a couple feet in from of James and I, who had, once again, taken the back of the group. James kept his distance from me this time, staring at me accusingly. I tried to ignore him. It didn't work.

I glanced over again. He scowled back, like I had just kicked his puppy.

I had enough of it. "What?!"

"What exactly happened on that little side quest of yours?" He asked, or really, demanded.

"I told you," I defended. "Remember?"

"I remember alright. But I seem to have forgotten the part where you _threatened_ Gabi."

"I, um, wasn't really thinking straight at the time." I tried to make what I did sound reasonable, like why I was wearing red shoes instead of yellow ones. "I thought Bill had tricked me again. I mean, c'mon man, he had taken my mother, and just left me to die. What was I supposed to think?" I looked at James, who I had hoped would be bobbing his head in understanding. He wasn't.

"I needed a way out, some sort of bargaining chip. I figured threatening his-" _daughter_, I almost blurted out. James didn't seem to know, and he acted like him and Gabi were, somewhat, friends. "Partner," I finally provided, "was, ugh, a good idea." It didn't seem like such an amazing idea _now_, but they say hindsight is 20/20 for a reason.

"So you killed her," James reasoned.

"Look, if I had wanted to kill her, she would've never made it back to Camp." I said.

"She seemed pretty certain you killed her, Aiden. _I mean, c'mon man_," James mocked, "she was adamant about it."

"I didn't kill her, okay? I tried to save her!" My attempt at validating myself was falling flat on its' face.

"Uh huh," James didn't even pretend to believe me. "Nico, did Aiden kill Gabi or not?"

Nico snapped to attention, pulled out of his thoughts. His back was still to us, but I had a feeling he was stumbling over the question. "No," he said quickly. "I mean," he stuttered, trying to find the most un-incriminating way to say 'Yes, James. Aiden _did_ kill Gabi. But it totally isn't that big of a deal. He really is a nice guy!'

James seemed to take Nico's inability to form words as conformation. His scowl deepened, and his put a not so subtle hand on his sword. "That's what I thought."

"Aiden didn't kill Gabi," Nico finally said. "She died from her wounds. She and Aiden were nearly crushed to death, _together_, by a boulder before Bill intervened. He saved Aidens' life, but he was too slow to save Gabis'."

I wanted to yell at the kid in front of me. I mean, technically, maybe the boulder was the thing that killed her, but I was the one who her pinned to the spot in the first place. If I hadn't pulled my sword on her…

I mentally slapped myself. There was no point in wondering _if_ something happened. It didn't and there was nothing I could do about it. It was just a waste of time and energy beating myself up about it.

James looked at me with pity, though he didn't seem entirely convinced. "Is that… Is that really what happened?"

I avoided his gaze, staring out across the water. I was angry at no one, or everyone, I wasn't sure. "Yes," I grumbled, not really wanting to talk about this anymore.

"Then why does Gabi think…" James started, trying to puzzle the situation out.

"The last thing she probably remembers is, ah, Aiden's little temper tantrum."

I stared daggers into Nico. I didn't need the guy to try and cover for me. I could explain the situation just _fine_.

The King of the Dead ignored me and kept on talking. "She probably doesn't even remember the Cyclops chucking that boulder at her. She's just misinformed. But I'm sure that's what Will is trying to explain to her."

As if on cue, Gabi looked back at me. Her expression was more-or-less blank, like she didn't exactly know what to think. I understood. I was in the same boat. Quite figuratively.

She stopped walking, waiting for me to catch up to her. James and Nico seemed to vanish almost instantly, and I wasn't really sure I wanted them to. I had no idea what to say. '_Hey sorry I got you killed. That was my bad._'

It wasn't more than a couple seconds before I caught up. She fell into line next to me, keeping pace with me step for step. She stayed next to me, slowly torturing me with her presence. I didn't dare to say anything. If I tried to explain myself, she probably (most certainly) would figure it as me trying to weasel my way out of her hands around my windpipe.

I waited forever, hoping that she would make the first move. Every second, I became a little more aware that she wasn't actually breathing. Her skin was almost as pale as Nico's. My heart went into double-time, like it could sense the one in the body next to me was no longer beating. The blood in my veins turned to ice. I couldn't stand to walk another twenty feet like this, let alone all the way to my impending doom.

Just as I was about to open my mouth to tell her to just pummel me until she couldn't raise her arms anymore, she moved. Gabi nervously brushed her blonde hair behind her ear. I realized she was at much for a loss as words as I was. Even when I had been trying to kill her on top of a certain hill, which will never be mentioned again in my pathetic life, Gabi had been confident in herself. She still had something. She had a plan. And it worked. Brady took me out.

But she seemed lost now. She had nothing. Maybe if we didn't talk about what happened, she could, somehow, in some way, still pretend that she was alive. That talking about it would give Death the go-ahead to just go ahead and end everything right here.

"Gabi," I started, unable to let the silence strangle me any longer.

"Don't talk Aiden, just listen," she interrupted. "Will, um, he told me what happened. At least, what he knew anyway." She folded her hands in front of her, twirling her thumbs. My mom used to do that when something bad had happened, like when the cat she tried to save had died from its' fever. Though this seemed to be a little more tragic to Gabi than her pet cat dying.

Gabi looked at me. Her brow furrowed. "Your nose, its' still bleeding." She looked ready to cry.

I scrambled for something to wipe the blood off with. I had completely forgotten about getting punched in the face. The slight throbbing in my nose hadn't been enough for me to pay attention to it. "It's ok. It's totally ok." I did my best to make sure she knew I didn't blame her, but the whole situation was so awkward, I think I just made her feel worse. "It's not your fault."

A tear slid down her cheek. "Yes it is Aiden. Its' all my fault. I was ready to murder you, when all you had tried to do was save me." She immediately stared at her toes, only looking up far enough to make sure she didn't run into anything. A sniffle escaped her. "You were trying to save my life. The only thing I did was blame you and try to break your face."

My hand subconsciously rubbed my nose. "It was a really nice attempt too. My mom always told me I had a thick skull though. Good thing, huh." I tried my best to smile. _No hard feelings._

Hard fist though, I thought.

Gabi smiled a little at that, which calmed me down a bit. Her laughing or trying to kill me I could deal with. If she started crying, I would be helplessly lost. I was pretty inexperienced in the whole 'comforting dead people' department.

"I guess it is," she said. She got quiet again. The only sound she made was the shuffling of her feet against the sand.

"Um," I tried again to speak, but the words just weren't there. "Do you, I mean, ugh." I nearly slapped myself from my impressive butchery of the English language. "Is there anything you want from me?" I asked.

She pursed her lips, like she had been thinking of the same thing. She just couldn't figure out how to ask. "Actually, now that you've said something…" _Yeah right_, I thought. _I was the one who brought up you dying. Just like I was the one responsible for it_. I sighed unhappily.

Gabi continued. Thankfully reading minds didn't appear to be one of her skills. "Would you tell me how I," She faltered. I could sense she was trying everything she could to avoid the word _died_. "How you know…" She looked at me longingly, pleading that I knew what she was talking about.

"It's no problem. Really. I can tell you what, uh, happened." I immediately regretted saying that. I thought about what I would say, and the guilt poured on like a tidal wave. Suddenly, I felt like I was marching around in full, knightly body armor dragging a 40 ton rock behind me. It was hard enough focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. My vision tunneled. I could have walked into a wall and hardly register it.

"You don't have to Aiden." She looked at me with worry. "I didn't mean to force…"

"No, I'm alright." I mentally scorned myself. Here I was falling apart like an ancient piece of paper when the person who had just DIED was standing next to me asking for an answer. And I was the only one she could really talk to about it. "You deserve to know what happen. What's the last thing you remember?"

Gabi nearly tripped over herself. "There was some noise in the background, like something was getting snapped. But it's fuzzy at best. I clearly remember you holding the edge of your sword against my throat though."

She just _had_ to remember that part, I though miserably. She glanced at Will. I couldn't read the expression she gave him, but the one she gave me was clear. I better not leave anything out. She had already heard the story from Will. Now she was going to see if my story wrapped it up nicely with a bow on top.

I silently threw every curse I could possibly think of at Will. I prayed to every deity I knew, even the ones that weren't Greek, that Will had told her the truth, and not tried to spin me into some kind of hero. I couldn't lie to Gabi about what happened. That would be wrong on so many levels.

"Um, well you're right there." I confirmed. "I did have my sword against your throat. When I heard the army in front of us, I thought Bill had betrayed me, taken me on some elaborate ruse to fool me into trusting him."

Gabi frowned, not impress with my evaluation of her father. "He would never do that." She argued.

"You weren't standing in my shoes Gabi. He had taken my mother. He, um…" I tried to dance around it as best I could. I didn't want her to know I still blamed everything that happened to my mother on her father. "… just stood by, I guess, while Gaea possessed my mother. Then he almost led us straight into an army of monsters. What was I supposed to think?" Her lips curled downward in annoyance. "I know it was stupid now, but please, can you criticize me for my idiot-ness _after_? Just… Let me finish first." I pleaded.

"Fine," she said. "I'll let you tell your story."

"I was so focused on threatening you; I never even heard the boulder coming until it was too late. But, Bill," I was still hesitant to say anything out loud about them being related, "he had heard it in time to tackle us out of the impact zone. Brady flew into a tree. The three of us tumbled down into the roots. It took me a few moments to get over my daze, but the only thing that really hurt was my ear drums. You, on the other hand…" I choked when I looked at her. I could still imagine the pieces of shrapnel lodged in her face, her ragged breathing, her eyes barely open as she stared out into nothingness. "When I finally could stand again, I went to check on Brady, but he had only seemed dazed. Then he, um, he looked at you, and the life seemed to drain from him. It was then I knew something was wrong."

Gabi nodded slightly, soaking in every detail. Her eyes still held a little disbelief, but I powered on. She deserved to know.

"You were barely breathing. Bill couldn't wake you up. Brady looked horrified. After Bill fed you as much nectar as he dared, he picked you up, and we ran for our lives up the mountainside."

I noticed Will's ears perk up the second I said mountainside. That no good, dimwit, son of a gorgon _had_ told her something. I wanted to yank out my sword and beat a few lessons about honesty into him, but that would've only served to make Gabi suspicious. I grinded my teeth in anger, hoping Gabi only thought I was collecting my thoughts.

Will pace slowed, ever so slightly. I thought about tripping him as we passed. Gabi didn't notice Will until he was right next to me.

"Has he finished telling you everything yet?" Will asked.

"No," I growled, a little angrier than I had meant too.

Gabi nearly jumped out of her skin. "Will! Sorry, I didn't notice you sneak over."

Will gave her an innocent smile. "Its' my fault. You have a lot on your mind. Should've made myself obvious."

I'm sure if Gabi could still blush, she would have. "You're fine Will. I'm just a little oblivious at the moment."

"You get to the part where I swoop in to save the day yet?" Will grinned at me.

"No," I mumbled. The message was obvious. Will didn't ask those kinds of question. He was blatantly telling me he had something to add. "I just got to the part where we were desperately running for our lives."

"Oh, that was right before you sent me the Iris-Message wasn't it?"

I didn't have a string of profanities good enough to lay into Will with. What in the Hades, gah, Nico, was _he thinking_? I didn't even know what an Iris-Message was! But the lie had already been put in Gabi's mind. To go against it would just make her question everything she had heard. I figured the detachment of my head wouldn't be far behind that decision.

"Yes, Will," I growled. _I got the hint. Now scram!_

"Sorry, I'll, uh, get out of your hair then." And he dropped back, easing himself into Nico and James' conversation as coolly as he could.

"Where was I?" I feigned losing my place, trying to salvage whatever story I had left to tell.

"Desperately running for our lives?" Gabi prompted.

"Oh, ya. Um, Anyways, we made it up to a ledge that was high enough to give us some safety. We had nearly died from the climb. Bill tried to feed you some Ambrosia, but I stopped him. I was worried that anymore would kill you right there. You were burning up."

"After that, I Iris-Messaged Will, asking him to help us. We needed to get you to someone who could help. I didn't know what I was doing. Brady was passed out. Bill was just kneeling over you, mumbling incoherently."

"So you IM'ed Will? "

_IM'ed_? I thought. Oh. Oh, right, Iris-Messaged. "I didn't know who else to contact."

Gabi looked mildly impressed. "I didn't know you knew how to IM people."

"Oh yeah," I said a little _too_ quickly. "It's just that thing with the, um…" I should've sewn my mouth shut right there. I had no idea what I was doing. You had to perform a ritual before you Iris-Messaged people? Will could've dropped that hint too.

I started making all kinds of shapes with my hand, hoping Gabi would give me the answer. She looked at me, first with confusion, but doubt started to creep in. I thought she was about to demand what I was trying to pull when she spoke.

"A drachma?" She finally supplied, eyeing me warily.

I nearly gasped with relief. At least this time, I knew what she was talking about. I had seen pictures of the gold coin my moms' mythology book. But when I thought a little harder about it, I had seen it somewhere else. I racked my brain for answers, trying to figure out what exactly I was looking for. Someone had flicked it.

I glanced at Gabi. She had been the one who flicked the coin, when I was spying on her at the Outpost. She had tossed it into…

"Ya that's it," I looked relieved, like the word had been on the tip of my tongue. Oh man, she had no idea. "With the rainbow and everything?"

"Ya, you got it." She gave me a small smile.

My heart stopped trying to achieve orbit. She had bought the lie. Hook, line, and sinker.

"Anyways, Will asked me how many were there and told me to stay put. So I went to sleep. And in the morning Will showed up and carried us back to Camp. Um, after that, I kind of got detained to the arena. I… I don't know what happened to you afterwards. Nobody told me."

The second I stopped talking, I was beyond relieved. I was afraid if I kept blabbering, it would only make things worse. I was surprised that she had actually kept quiet. She didn't hit me, beat me with a stick, and try to melt me into a puddle of Aiden ooze by throwing me in the river.

I didn't really know what to expect from Gabi. I tried to read her expression, but it seemed like her emotions were all over the place. I couldn't tell if she was relieved, mad, or sad. She actually looked kind of miffed.

"My dad didn't say anything? Nothing at all?"

"Um," I started fidgeting nervously, not sure how to say this next part. "The only thing I heard him say was 'You were more important than you realize.' I was kind of in the middle of arguing with him about my mom at that point." I winced. As I said it, I realized just how selfish that sounded. I was busy trying to argue with the man while he was trying to save her. I was forcing him to answer me instead of focusing on his daughter, who was dying in front of him. "I know you hate me. And I totally understand Gabi. I deserve it. I don't expect you to do anything for me. You don't have to come with us."

Her lips pursed. "Thanks Aiden, but that's not really for you to decide…" She trailed off.

"You mean that silly saying Nico pulled on you back there? The Styx or whatever?"

Her anger came back, if only for a moment. "It's not a silly saying. It's the most sacred oath a person can make. And it's personal." She glared at me. _No more questions about it_.

I put my hands up. "Sorry. I didn't mean to pry. Just thought swearing on a river was a bit odd."

She seemed to relax a little. "It's fine. I get it. You're still new to this. But, um, for what it's worth Aiden." She stopped and put her hand on my shoulder, forcing me to face her. I mentally braced myself for the impact to my ribs, my stomach, my face, and probably some _other_ places.

But she didn't hit me. Not even a little bit. I closed my eyes as I flinched, expecting the worst. But she pulled me into a hug. I heard three, distinct, collective gasps.

I looked over to see three demigods trying to catch flies with their mouths.

"What?" I growled. The trio just shook their heads, like they saw nothing.

"I forgive you," Gabi said simply. "And, I'm sorry about your nose." The hug was just a simple gesture. I was still trying to process that_ she just hugged me_. But I knew what it meant. No holding grudges. No past hate. Just simply starting over. Wiping the slate clean.

I knew that would never truly happen. I would never be able to look at her without thinking of her death, and I hadn't even given a second thought to her at the time. I had been so wrapped up in my own problems.

When Gabi hugged me, she was as cold as ice. Her chest was empty of a heartbeat. She didn't breath. Her skin was an unnatural white. And no matter how much she wanted, no matter how much she wished it just wasn't true, she was dead. Her life in the world above was over. There was no going back. Her father would never see her again. And she would never see him.

I had been there. The last thing she remembered of her life was me, holding a sword to her throat, threatening to kill her just to hurt Bill. That memory would never leave her mind. At the end of her life, I had been the guy her parents warned her about when she was younger. The stranger you don't trust.

She let me go. "To starting over?" She held out her hand in an obvious gesture. My hand reached for hers, but I never shook it. Instead, I placed it back at her side. I had already lied to her about my part in her death. I wasn't going to lie to her another time.

I lowered my voice so no one could eaves drop. "Do you really think we can?"

She looked, relieved, almost happy. She understood my thoughts. There was a wall between us. There always would be. Not even the mightiest Gods would be able to completely tear it down. And if she ever found out Will and I had lied to her… Well, I kind of liked my neck staying intact, so I tried not to think about it. The only one who knew the truth was Bill. He was the one who sent the IM to Will. I hoped I never saw him again in my life.

Forgiveness wasn't something people gave out like candy. Gabi couldn't just forgive me, and everything would be sunflowers and daisies. No, some part of her would always resent me, until she felt like I had earned her forgiveness. And I wasn't going to make any promises until I did. I would earn it. Then I could promise to be her friend.


End file.
